How Long Will I Love You?
by KlarolinexDelenaxx
Summary: sequel to Slowly Drifting. Leela/Peri Cameron/Peri Leela/Cameron Leela/Ziggy Tom/Peri
1. Chapter 1

A few days had passed since the funeral of Sam and Danny Lomax and Leela, Tegan, Ste and Peri were slowly getting their life's back together piece by piece; it was hard and not a day went by where they didn't think about their parents.

Ste missed his Dad dearly and the loss of his Dad made him think about his recently deceased Mum as well.

Leela and Tegan missed both their Mum and Dad but Leela was the one finding it the hardest, after Tegan's breakdown she had finally picked herself up and she now focused all of her time on Rose because Rose had already lost a Dad, Grandma and Granddad at such an early age.

Leela found it tough dealing with work as well as the demands of a teenage daughter, although Cameron helped which she was grateful for, but spending so much of her time around Cameron was starting to get to her and she often found herself thinking of the past and how she and Cameron could have been.

It was a Friday afternoon and everyone was out so Leela was laid on the couch watching Jeremy Kyle as she started to doze on and off.

Suddenly to door opened and Peri came in with tears staining her face.

"Peri" Leela sat up in concern, watching her daughter who had mascara running down her cheeks "What happened?"

Peri went to sit down beside her Mum and cried as she went to tell her what happened.

"He..I, I can't believe he would do this, I thought he liked me" Peri said through tears.

"Tom" Leela concluded as Peri nodded her head as a fresh load of tears fell down her face.

"He was kissing another girl, why would he do that to me?" Leela watched as her daughter kept crying; she knew how much Peri liked Tom and Tom was a nice boy, or so she thought.

"He said that he pushed her away and that he didn't want to kiss her, but..." Peri sniffed as more tears fell from her eyes.

"But..." Leela said urging her to continue.

"She's so much prettier than me" Peri said.

"Peri, you are pretty" Leela told her daughter as she lifted her chin, making her look at her "You're gorgeous Peri, don't ever let anyone make you think you're not because you are, you're beautiful"

"I'm ugly" Peri said as her voice broke; she wanted to be pretty though she always considered herself ugly, but before Tom it never really bothered her.

"No you're not, you're beautiful, from the minute you were born you have been the prettiest girl"

"You have to say that" Peri said as she looked at her Mum.

"Yeah because it's true" Leela smiled reassuringly at her daughter, getting a weak smile in return.

"Have you tried speaking to him?" Leela asked her gently.

Peri shook her head "I just ran off"

"Maybe you should hear him out, he's a nice kid and he really loves you, you can tell"

"I don't want to talk to him"

Just then there was a banging on the door.

"Peri, let me in, please, she kissed me, I pushed her away, I'm sorry"

Leela and Peri listened to Tom beg outside the door.

"Peri please, I love you"

A massive grin spread across Peri's face as she got up and made her way to the door.

"I'll leave you to it" Leela said as she walked upstairs with one last look at her daughter.

Peri opened the door to see Tom stood there, he went to speak but Peri cut him off "I love you too and I know she kissed, when I saw you two I just freaked out, I'm sorry"

"It's okay" Tom smiled "You know I would never do anything to hurt you"

Peri learned in and kissed Tom before pulling him into the house.

"Best of 3?" she asked as she passed him a PS4 control and grinned.

Peri and Tom sat playing on her PS4, meanwhile upstairs Leela was in her room sitting at her make-up table, staring into the mirror.

Suddenly her phone went off breaking her from her thoughts so she looked at the photo of her parents she had on her desk before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

Seeing who the text was from made her feel sad; she already felt awful about what had happened and she just wanted to forget it, but he was always a constant reminder.

She read the message.

**Last night was fun**

**We should do it again sometime ;)**

**C xx**

She sighed heavily as she read the end; she felt guilty because of Ziggy, she couldn't believe she was so stupid, she had just buried her parents, why did she have to make things so complicated? She had Ziggy, she loved him...?

Just then there was a knock at her bedroom door and Peri walked in.

"Tom's just left, he's got some family thing" she said as she pulled a face "I was gonna go met Dad, is that okay?"

Leela sighed; she couldn't stop Peri from seeing him, over the last couple of days they had many arguments because of him, but Leela knew she couldn't keep her away from him no matter how much seeing him emotionally hurt her; she tried to avoid him most of the time but sometimes it just wasn't possible.

"Sure" she replied absentmindedly.

"Are you okay?" Peri asked.

"Hmm, yeah sure, just got a bit of a headache" she said.

Peri just pulled a face before walking out of the room and leaving Leela to her thoughts.

Typing out a reply Leela's finger hovered over send, finally sending it she put her phone in her pocket and walked downstairs.

She froze in her steps as she heard a familiar voice.

"Cameron" she thought not realising she said it out loud.

Cameron and Peri looked towards her as she stood frozen to the spot.

"Oh, hey" Leela said as she looked awkwardly at Cameron "I thought you were going out"

"Yeah me too but Dad brought us pizza" Peri smiled "Want some? It's your favourite"

"Nah I'm good" Leela replied as she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Leela was at the sink as Cameron came up behind her.

"I got your text" Cameron said quietly causing her to jump; she quickly turned around as she watched Cameron come closer to her, trapping her between him and the kitchen counter.

"Cameron" she hissed as she eyed Peri who was watching the television, oblivious to them in the kitchen talking quietly "I mean it, it meant nothing, you need to get that into your thick head"

She went to push past him but he stopped her.

"Cameron" she sighed as she leant forward, resting her forehead on his chest before quickly pulling away again "I'm with Ziggy" she sighed as she tried once again to move past him but he managed to stop her again "I love Ziggy..." she added as she looked Cameron in the eyes.

Cameron leant close to her causing her to shiver "That's not what you said last night" pulling away from her, he winked at her and grinned "You say you don't want me but you're body says otherwise"

"Mum" Peri said suddenly, turning from the television screen and looking towards them as Cameron quickly moved away from Leela creating some distance between them.

"Can Cameron move in with us?" Leela stood in shock, her mind screaming at her that he couldn't move it.

"Please, he is my Dad and it's not like there isn't room" she added with a hopeful smile.

Leela glanced at Cameron and anger ran though her "You put her up to this didn't you?" she whispered angrily.

"No" Leela blurted out.

"Why?" Peri asked from the couch.

"Because I said so"

"You know this isn't just your house" Peri yelled as she got up from the couch "Whatever, if he can't move in I might just go and live with him, he's well better than you. I hate living with you, you're so moody"

"Peri, it's alright" Cameron said as he jumped in.

"No it's not, you're my Dad and I want you to move in, we've got the room so I don't see the problem"

"The problem is I don't want him here..." Leela started but Peri cut her off.

"It's all about you isn't it? God I hate you"

"Peri, you don't mean that" Cameron said as he watched mother and daughter fight each other "Look, I like living in my flat, you can come over anytime, spent the night if it's okay with your Mum"

Peri just scoffed and went upstairs, giving her Mum a dirty look as she went.

"I'm very patient Leela, I know you want me as much as I want you, last night proved that" Cameron said before walking out of the house and leaving Leela alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Leela was sat on the sofa drinking a bottle of wine as she saw Peri walk downstairs from the corner of her eye.

"Peri" she called.

Peri just looked at her without saying a word and walked over to the door.

"Where are you going?" she called but Peri as already half way out of the door.

Ste walked in and saw the half empty bottle of wine so he looked up at Leela who had a small frown on her face.

"What's wrong with you?" Ste asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Nothing" Leela snapped.

"Another argument with Peri?" he questioned as he came to sit beside her and poured himself a glass of what was left.

"She wants Cameron to move in" Leela told him without looking at him.

"And you don't?" Ste questioned as he studied her.

As Ste watched her face it suddenly dawned on him what the problem was.

"You still have feelings for him" Ste accused.

"What? No, no I don't, I'm with Ziggy" Leela said in disgust.

"Hmm" was Ste's only response.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you totally fancy him and if you weren't with Ziggy you would be with him" Ste told her.

Leela scoffed before stomping into the kitchen to get another bottle of wine.

"You can deny it all you like but you know I'm right" Ste called from his place on the sofa.

Leela stayed quiet as she successfully found the wine.

"No you're not" she said as she plopped down on the chair.

Ste frowned at her before pouring himself another glass from the new bottle.

"I slept with him" Leela blurted out.

"Well yeah..." Ste said matter-of-factly "I know he's Peri's Dad blah blah blah..."

"No, I mean I slept with him" Leela said as she looked at him with a 'duh' expression on her face.

Ste realised what she was saying.

"Eww"

"Ste, not helping" Leela said as she poured a glass of wine and downed it "I feel awful"

"So that's why you don't want Cameron to move in?" Ste questioned causing Leela nodded "Because you're afraid you'll jump his bones again" he said as he started laughing.

"Ste, can't you be serious for once, you're so gay" Leela said which caused Ste to laugh even more.

"Well yeah" he said as his laughter died down "Anyway Cameron's fit, you could do worse"

"Ste, so not helping" Leela said as she threw a cushion at his head.

"Okay okay, so you slept with him and now it's weird" he said causing Leela to look at him in defeat.

"You really are stupid" he joked.

"Still not helping, god why did I even tell you" Leela complained.

"Okay" Ste said seriously "You love Ziggy right?"

"Yes" Leela said with a bit of hesitation which Ste noticed causing him to raise his eyebrow at her "No, I mean I do" she sighed "Ziggy's great, we have a laugh, he treats me right and..." she went on but Ste cut her off.

"But are you in love with him?" Ste asked.

"No, well maybe, but..."

No buts, I don't like Cameron but it's obvious you want to be with him so go for it, life's too short" he said as thoughts of his deceased parents flashed in his mind.

"Maybe" Leela said absentmindedly "I don't want to hurt Ziggy, I love him..."

"But you're not in love with him" Ste concluded.

"Me and Cameron aren't good together" Leela told him.

"You haven't been together for fourteen years..." Ste trailed off.

"Yeah, I know" Leela sighed.

"And you have a daughter together, maybe it's just meant to be" he added.

Leela looked at Ste blankly as she thought about what he said _maybe it's just meant to be _she wasn't ready to let Ziggy go just yet; the idea of her a Cameron scared her because he hurt her in the past and she didn't want that to happen again, so maybe she just needed to play it safe.

"I'm going to bed" Ste muttered as he got up and wobbled slightly.

"You're only had two glasses" Leela laughed as she watched him.

I've been working all day" Ste mumbled with a shrug before making his way upstairs leaving Leela alone; looking at the clock she saw it was only half six.

Just then she got a text so she got her phone out and looked at it.

**From Cameron:**

**Peri's at mine, don't worry, I'll bring her back later x**

Putting her phone down on the arm of the chair she let out a frustrated sigh and finished the bottle of wine off before heading upstairs.

As she walked to her room so could hear Tegan speaking to Rose causing her to babble back.

Once in her room she laid on her bed thinking about her Mum and Dad as well as Ziggy and Cameron.

Rolling onto her side she searched for something under her bed, pulling it out she looked at the old picture of her and Cameron from when they were younger and a soft smile graced her lips as she stared at the picture.

She put the picture under her pillow before drifting to sleep.

Next thing she knew someone was shaking her awake.

"Zig..." she mumbled as she opened her eyes slowly only to see Cameron staring back at her.

"Cameron" she said as she sat up, noticing he was holding her hand she shook him off.

"Sorry" he mumbled "I just brought Peri back"

"Is she still in a mood with me?" she asked him.

"I remember someone else who could strop for England as well" he said as he looked at her.

Leela got lost in his eyes for a minute before coming back to her senses, her eyes fell on his lips and she found herself absentmindedly leaning forward.

"Well, thanks for bringing her back" she knew she was going to regret her next move but she did it anyway, leaning in closer she went to kiss him on the cheek but he moved his head and their lips touched in a gentle kiss, however instead of pulling apart they stayed together and the kiss grew more passionate as he pushed her down on the bed and fell on top of her.

She could feel the softness of his lips and before she could stop herself she let out a soft moan.

"No" she gasped as she pushed him off of her and rolled off of the bed "Urm, you can go now" she said nervously and he just grinned at her before leaving without saying a word.

She fell back on the bed and covered her eyes as she thought about the kiss "Arrrrrgh" she screamed in frustration, looking at the clock she saw it was nearly half seven so she got out her phone and decided to send a quick text to Ziggy, stopping as she saw her screen saver of her and Ziggy _don't mess it up s_he thought to herself; he was good for her and right now she needed that.

**To Ziggy:**

**Hey babe, fancy coming over? xx**

Her and Ziggy had made up after their little disagreement over Cameron; she promised him that she wanted him and only him and that Cameron was just Peri's father and that's all he was, she only wanted him.

Her phone went off signalling a text had come through so she read it to herself and giggled as she grinned at her phone.

Making her way downstairs just as Ziggy knocked, she let him in and before anything could be said she kissed him hard, trying to put all her feelings into that one kiss.

"Hello to you too" Ziggy said as he reluctantly pulled back from her only for her to pull his lips back to hers again.

She walked them backwards until he was sitting on the couch, she climbed on his lap and continued kissing him as her fingers started undoing his shirt buttons

He broke the kiss and was about to say something but she stopped him "Don't speak, please, I need you" she said as she reattached their lips.

Ziggy didn't need telling twice as he quickly began pulling her clothes from her body before laying her down on the couch so he was on top of her.

He quickly pulled his remaining clothes from his body and looked her in the eyes, smiling lovingly at her.

"I love you" Leela whispered just loud enough for him to hear, the single tear that rolled down her cheek going unnoticed; she had never really confessed her love for him out loud before, but she felt she needed to because she didn't want to lose him, she couldn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Leela and Ziggy had made it up to her room and fallen asleep there, now the morning sun woke them as they lay asleep in each other's arms.

Leela was the first one to open her eyes, she looked beside her at Ziggy who was just waking up "Morning" he grumbled as he finally opened his eyes fully only for the sun to shine in them making him squint slightly.

"Morning" Leela smiled at him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent.

Ziggy wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head "I gotta go soon" he said as he noticed it was already eleven and he needed to go and meet his Mum as promised.

"Hmm" Leela hummed as she looked up at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Anyway are you alright? You seemed a bit upset last night"

"I'm fine, I just missed you that's all" Leela said with a smile.

"You big softie" Ziggy teased as he pulled her on top of him causing her to giggle.

"Hmm" Leela mumbled as Ziggy captured her lips in his.

Leela pulled back teasingly as she rose her eyebrow at him before going to climb off of him but he stopped her.

"I thought you said you needed to go" Leela grinned down at him before he pulled her back down on top of him.

"Five minutes won't hurt" Ziggy said as he began lifting the covers over their heads.

"Five minutes" Leela laughed as the covers came down over her head and she and Ziggy quickly became wrapped up in each other again.

30 minutes later Ziggy finally climbed out of Leela's bed and went to the bathroom.

"I guess you're a bit late for meeting your Mum?" Leela questioned as he re-entered the room.

"Yeah, just a bit" Ziggy said before giving her a peak on the lips "She's going to kill me" he said as he quickly ran downstairs and out of the house.

Ziggy ran past Peri without even noticing her; Peri just looked up from her tablet and rolled her eyes before carrying on what she was doing.

Leela came downstairs in her robe and spotted Peri on the couch.

"Hey" Leela said as she saw it was nearly noon.

Getting no response she rolled her eyes at her daughter "Still in a mood then?"

Peri got up from the couch and walked over to Leela "I'm not the moody one, you are. You say Cameron can't more in but you haven't given a reason, you just said no. You can't keep me away from my Dad, you tried to keep me away from my Dad before and look how that turned out"

Leela knew Peri wasn't just talking about Cameron now, she was referring to Danny; she still remembered Sam and Danny as her Mum and Dad, although on occasion she did just call them Sam and Danny, but to her they were her Mum and Dad as well, I guess she thought of it as having two Mum and Dad's.

"I'm not trying to keep you away from him" Leela shouted.

"Then let him move in" Peri yelled back.

"No"

"Why not?" Peri yelled, not waiting for an answer she stormed out of the house.

Ste emerged from the stairs just as Peri slammed the door shut "Still no better then?"

Leela just huffed in response as she flicked the kettle on "Want one?"

Ste nodded before asking her about last night "So, who was it in your room this time, Ziggy or Cameron?"

Leela turned to Ste and looked at him with a look of horror.

"Well you weren't exactly quiet" he said with a shrug.

Leela blushed as the kettle boiled and she began making the drinks.

"Ziggy" Leela stated as she passed Ste his drink "It was Ziggy, me and Cameron aren't going to happen, I love Ziggy" she concluded firmly.

"Who are you trying to convince, me or you"

Leela sighed as she looked at her brother.

"You're gonna have to be more convincing" Ste told her as he walked upstairs.

Leela decided to go for a run to clear her head so she went upstairs to get ready.

Meanwhile Peri made her way into the pub, seeing a bottle of vodka behind the bar she swiped it and went up to see Tom.

"Hey" she said as she walked into the lounge upstairs and saw Tom sitting there in his pyjamas causing her to snigger to herself.

"Hey, I didn't know you were coming over" he said in a fluster.

"Yeah well, thought we could hang out" Peri smirked, holding the bottle of vodka up.

"You can't do that" Tom said in shock as Peri sat down beside him.

"Oh, stop worrying" she told him before placing a light kiss on his cheek.

Oh, hey Peri" Nancy said as she emerged from the bedroom "

Peri quickly hid the vodka bottle and smiled at her "Hi Mrs Osborne"

"Hey Nance" Tom said.

"I'll be in the bar if you two need anything"

"Okay" they replied in unison as they watched her leave.

"Go and get glasses then" Peri said once Nancy had gone as she put the bottle back on the table.

"Nah, you're alright, I don't want any" Tom said, shaking his head.

"Suit yourself" Peri shrugged as she opened the bottle and took a swig from it.

Just then he phone went off and she looked down seeing that it was Leela calling, she rejected it.

"Xbox?" she asked as she looked at Tom.

"S..sure" he stuttered as he went to set it up.

They finished a match and Tom noticed the vodka bottle was half empty "Don't you think you should stop?" he asked as he saw Peri reach for the bottle.

Taking another mouthful she could feel the burning in her throat "Peri, stop, you're going to be so sick" Tom said as he took the bottle from her much to her dismay.

Just then Peri ran to the bathroom with her hand over her month "I'm gonna be sick" she mumbled against her hand as she flew into the bathroom.

Tom waited for her to reappear and when she did she looked a sickly pale.

"You look awful" he told her.

"I think I'm gonna go, I'll call you" she said as she offered him a weak smile.

"I'll walk you, you're in no fit state to go home on your own"

Peri smiled as Tom went to get rid of what was left of the vodka before getting Peri's jacket and walking her out.

"Leela's gonna kill me" Tom said as they got nearer the village steps leading to her house.

Peri didn't say anything she just giggled to herself as Tom led her up the steps and to her front door.

Leela opened the door and saw the state of her daughter "Tom, what were you thinking?" she shouted as she pulled Peri into the house.

"It wasn't his fault, leave him alone" Peri mumbled.

Tom awkwardly waved at Peri before quickly leaving the Lomax house.

Leela could smell the vodka on Peri's breath as she walked her to the couch and sat her down.

"Peri, you're fourteen for god sake"

"Yeah well, you did worse at my age" Peri snapped as she looked her Mum dead in the eyes and smirked.

Leela restrained herself from slapping her and told her to go upstairs.

Peri carelessly walked upstairs and went to her room where she quickly drifted to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Peri woke up calling for her Mum; as the shouts alerted Leela she went to see what was going on; the shouts from her daughter sounded like she was scared; _maybe she was having a nightmare_ she thought to herself.

Leela pushed Peri's door open to find her thrashing around on the bed, she was still yelling out so Leela slowly approached the bed with soft calls of her name, gently reached her arm out to place her hand on Peri which caused her to jump and look at her in shock.

"No" she shouted as she shook Leela off of her.

"Hey, it's me, you can tell me what's wrong" Leela said quietly.

"Mum, where's Mum?" Peri said with a shaky voice.

"It's me, I'm here, I'm right here" Leela said as she watched her daughter with concern.

Peri stared at Leela for a moment before breakdown in her arms.

"What's wrong?" Leela muttered against Peri's hair before pulling back so she could look her daughter in the eyes "You can tell me" she told her as she wiped her tears away and smiled softly at her.

Peri shook her head lightly as she rolled away for her Mum and laid back down allowing more tears to flow from her eyes "Nothing" she mumbled "I'm just tired"

Leela looked at her daughter who had her back to her and frowned to herself.

"Peri, whatever it is you can tell me, or at least tell someone, Tegan, Ste, Cameron, Ziggy, we're all here for you" getting no reply Leela left the room only to be stopped by a small voice.

"Night" came Peri's mumbled voice.

"Night" Leela replied as she pulled her daughter's door to.

Leela lay on her bed for hours before finally finding sleep, thoughts of Peri filling her head; _is she coping? Why won't she speak to me?_ _I will never as good as Mum as she was. Does Peri really want me to be her Mum? _She hated seeing Peri upset and she knew something wasn't right, but until Peri told her she couldn't help her.

Next morning came and Peri still hadn't emerged from her room and it was nearly eleven as Leela sat on the couch watching Tegan playing with Rose.

"You okay?" Tegan asked her.

"Yeah" Leela replied absentmindedly.

"Okay, well me and Rose are going to go to the Mother's and Daughter's swim" Tegan said as she tickled Rose making the infant giggle.

Leela smiled lovingly at them as she thought about her and Peri and how they could have had a bond like that.

"Okay, have fun" she said as she got up from the couch and brushed her hand over Rose's head before going into the kitchen; Leela loved her niece but she often made her think of Peri at that age and how she just gave it all up; she could have been a Mum to her baby but instead she gave her to her parents to raise; one of the biggest regrets of her life, she was only fourteen but she could have made it work because she loved Peri from the moment she was born.

Leela stood staring out of the kitchen window before hearing Peri behind her so she turned around and smiled. Peri offered a small smile in return but it quickly faded.

"I'm going out" Peri said.

"Don't you want anything to eat? I could make you something" Leela offered.

"Nah, I'll get something with Tom"

"Okay, but don't think I've forgotten about yesterday" Leela said seriously.

"Yeah yeah, well I'm sorry okay, I was stupid" Peri said dejectedly before walking out the door leaving Leela confused.

Leela sighed as she looked at a picture of her Mum and Dad; her Mum was so much better at this than her; she knew something was up with Pez but she didn't know how to get her to talk to her, all she knew was she had to try.

It was about forty-five minutes later when the door opened and Tom walked in.

"Hey Leela" Tom said as he walked in followed by Peri.

"I invited Tom to come back, hope you don't mind" Peri said as she dragged Tom upstairs with her leaving Leela speechless.

With Peri upstairs and Ste and Tegan out Leela decided to invite Ziggy over so she sent him a quick text and waited for him.

As she waited for him she flicked the television on to see what was on, she soon turned it off when she saw nothing good was on.

"Knock knock" Ziggy said as he just walked through the door.

Leela couldn't help but smile; she loved the way he just walked in without knocking, she knew it should annoy her but it didn't.

"Hey" she said as he came to sit beside her and put his arm around her, pecking her on the cheek in the process.

"So want do you fancy doing?" he asked her.

"I just want to stay right here with you" she said "Peri's upstairs with Tom, there's something up, I know it"

"Have you tried asking her?"

"She said it was nothing but it's definitely not nothing, she seems sad" she paused trying to think "and angry, but I don't know why"

"She'll tell you eventually, you love her and she knows that, she will come to you when she's ready" he offered trying to ease her worries but it wasn't working.

"I guess" she mumbled as she snuggled further into his side.

They sat there in silence as Ziggy played with her fingers while kissing her every so often.

Footsteps on the stairs caused them to break apart, turning to see Peri they both smiled at her.

Peri looked at Leela and Ziggy with irritation before walking into the kitchen and getting her and Tom some snacks as Leela and Ziggy exchanged a worried looks.

"Pez, are you alright?" Leela called.

"Fine" Peri said bluntly as she picked up her and Tom's food and headed back upstairs.

Leela looked at Ziggy and gave him a 'see what I mean' look.

Seeing the concern on Leela's face Ziggy dipped his head and placed a gently kiss on her lips.

"You have the cutest little nose" he said randomly causing her to laugh "And the most beautiful eyes" he continued as he lightly ran the back of his finger down her cheek.

"You're so cheesy" she said looking up at him as their eyes connected.

"The most amazing body..." he continued as he looked down the length of her body and gave her a crooked smile.

"Smooth" Leela muttered with a hint of laughter as she leant forward and kissed his lips, deepening the kiss Leela moaned into his month as she felt his hand slip under her top and stroke the bare skin there.

His touch was rough but at the same time it was so gentle and it drove Leela wild, climbing on top of him she moved her lips to his neck and started sucking so she could leave her mark on him.

Ziggy started kissing down her body as she pulled back and saw the mark she had left on him, she smirked to herself before pulling him back up to reclaim his lips.

Falling back onto the couch they continued kissing until the need for air forced them to break apart.

Leela began unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed her neck causing her to let out a string of moans, losing her mind she struggled with the buttons on his shirt as the pleasure got too much for her.

Leela uttered something which was very clear to both of them.

"_Cam..." _

Ziggy stopped what he was doing as he heard _HIS_ name fall from her lips.

She looked at him in shock before quickly sitting up and untangling herself from him, looking at him with guilty eyes as his angry ones stared back.

"Sorry..." Leela breathed as a tear fell from her eye "I, I" she didn't know what to say really "I, I love you" she said shakily as she saw the disgust in his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**You know this story might be an M now I don't know, its quite suggestive I guess so I think I'll put it up to M to be safe**

* * *

Ziggy didn't say a word, he just got up and headed for the door as he ignored Leela's pleads.

"Ziggy, don't go, please" she shouted as she scurried to her feet trying the stop him from leaving.

Grabbing his arm to stop him he looked at her "No Leela, I can't do this anymore..." the look in his eyes showed defeat; he knew he was never going to fully have Leela' heart, not with Cameron around.

"Zig..." she breathed as she tried to find the words she wanted to say.

Shaking her hand from his arm he walked out of the door leaving her standing there staring after him.

She stood there with tears running down her cheeks as she couldn't believe what had just happened; _stupid, stupid, stupid _she thought as she put her head in her heads, as she heard footsteps behind her she wiped her eyes and turned around.

"Are you alright?" Peri asked as she stood at the foot of the stairs with Tom behind her.

"Yeah" Leela said, forcing a smile.

Peri looked at Tom who silently encouraged her to ask Leela what she wanted.

"Um, so..." Peri stuttered not knowing how to ask "Can I move in with Dad?" she blurted out.

"What?" Why?" Leela asked.

"Well you won't let him move in here so I want to go and live with him" Peri said as she raised her voice slightly; she didn't understand why she wouldn't let him move in.

"You should be with your family" Leela told her.

"Yeah and he is my family" Peri retaliated.

"You need to be with your whole family, Ste, Tegan and Me..."

"And Dad" Peri added causing Leela to sigh as she knew Peri had backed her into a corner "So he should move in" she said smiling hopefully as she walked over to her Mum.

"Please let him move in" Peri asked in a plead.

Leela looked at her daughter; she really wanted Cameron to move in and she knew she couldn't deny her daughter of that chance to be closer to her Dad, she already felt guilty enough; Peri had already lost one 'Dad'; _maybe I should just let him move in_ she thought _it will be fine_ her brain was telling her, nothing had to happen between them, she could stay out of his way and only spend time with him when Peri was around, it would be fine; _it will be fine._

"Fine" Leela said as she looked at Peri.

"You mean it, he can move in?" Peri asked with a huge grin.

"If it's okay with him then it's okay with me, I guess" Leela said unconvinced.

"Thank you" Peri said as she grabbed Tom's hand "Come on, I'm gonna go tell him"

Leela watched with a small frown as her and Tom went out the door; she didn't want Cameron moving in but just seeing how much Peri wanted him to made her reconsider.

She stood in the same spot for a while thinking about what happened with Ziggy; it was just a slip of the tongue ... right? Getting her phone out her pocket she scowled though her phone book until she got to Ziggy's name, hovering her finger over it; she wanted to speak to him but she didn't know what to say, not really. How could she explain why she said another guys name when she was with him like that? If she was being honest with herself it didn't just slip out, she wanted it; she wanted it to be him because every time she was with Ziggy she thought about Cameron. She compared everything he did to Cameron, she didn't mean to but it just happened.

As he finger hovered over his name images of his face flashed through her mind, he didn't look hurt or sad, he just looked angry.

Ziggy always knew that he could lose Leela to Cameron and he was right because Cameron just kept working his way into her heart and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Clicking on Ziggy's contact she debated whether to ring or text him, making her decision she shut her phone and shoved it back in her pocket before the door banged open and Peri came in with Cameron.

_Great _she thought as she plastered a smile on her face and Cameron looked at her.

"Peri says I can move in, that's great" he said as her looked from Leela to Peri "More time with my girl" he said as he looked at Peri though his eyes wandered to Leela as he smirked to himself.

"Yeah, you can take your stuff upstairs if you want, your rooms right next door to Leela's" Peri said before smiling at her Dad.

"Great" he said as he threw Leela a wink before going upstairs with his stuff.

"Thanks for letting him move in Mum" Peri said as she looked in Leela's direction.

Leela smiled absentmindedly "If it's what you want then I'm happy"

"It is" Peri said as she quickly hugged her Mum before making her way to the stairs.

"I said I'll meet Tom at the folly later" Peri said as she ran upstairs "That's okay isn't it?" she added as she peeked her head back around the corner.

Leela nodded and smiled at her daughter before she disappeared again.

Cameron walked downstairs then and as she noticed he was shirtless she looked at him in question.

"Sorry, I was just gonna take a shower, but I can't get it to work"

"It sticks, you just gotta give it a good shove" she told him as her eyes roamed his torso much to Cameron's delight.

Cameron's eyes suddenly lit up as he watched her "I tried that but it ain't coming on"

"Fine, I'll come and do it" she said with a huff.

Cameron stood on the top step as he watched her make her way upstairs; pushing past him she made her way to the bathroom and he followed her, shutting the door behind them and standing in front of it.

Leela turned the shower on and then turned it off again, she looked at Cameron with a frown.

"Urgh, you're such an ass" she said as she realised he tricked her.

Cameron just stood there smirking at her.

"Move" she said as she tried to get past him so she could leave the bathroom.

Cameron leant forward so he could whisper in her ear "Make me" he challenged before pulling back so he could see her face.

"Cameron, please just move" she pleaded.

"Not until you admit it" he answered back.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you" he told her "You want me, you still have feelings for me, just admit it"

"Cameron I ain't playing you stupid games, now move" she told him, feeling frustrated as she pushed past him roughly; she needed to get out of there.

Her hand touched the door handle but she suddenly felt and warm one over hers "Just admit it" he whispered next to her ear.

"I can't" she said quietly as she closed her eyes before snapping them back open "Now got off me" she snapped as she shoved him away from her but he caught her other arm and gently pulled her back.

He trapped her between the sink and his shirtless body "It can be our little secret" he whispered seductively "Again" he added with a smirk "Ziggy doesn't need to know"

"Yeah well Ziggy doesn't want anything to do with me and it's all your fault" she accused.

"Why? I haven't done anything" he whispered as he smirk arrogantly.

"Because I still want you okay" she blurted out "Happy now"

Cameron went in for the kiss but she stopped him "But it doesn't change anything okay, we will NEVER happen" she told him, emphasizing the never.

"You mean we will never happen AGAIN" his smirk grew even bigger as he could she he was getting under her skin.

After a while of them just staring at each other he spoke again "Fine, but sooner or later you will come running" he moved away from her "I never stopped you know" she looked at him as she made her way to the door "I've always loved you Leela" he clarified before going to take his jeans off causing Leela to make a hasty exit.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding she leant her back against the closed-door trying to compose herself before going back downstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

Peri stood outside Leela's bedroom door as she debated whether to go in on not, Cameron was downstairs but she didn't really want to go and see him; she thought she would love having her Dad here but him and Leela where always arguing and it had only been one day so it could only get worse she thought, but that wasn't really what was annoying her. She was extremely sad but she was too worried and scared to tell people why.

She turned as she decided not to go in, she didn't really want to be alone; Tegan and Ste were out and it was too late to go and see Tom again so she had no other choice but to go downstairs, either that or be alone and she really didn't want to be alone.

She wished her 'mum' was still here, she could talk to her, though she could talk to Leela and Cameron and she accepted that but she still found it hard sometimes.

Creeping downstairs she saw Cameron sat on the couch eating a sandwich.

"Hey" Peri said as she went to sit beside him and hugged herself into his side.

"Hey Peri winkle" Cameron said causing Peri to look up as tears threatened to flood her eyes "Hey, what's up?" Cameron asked as he noticed her teary looking eyes.

"My mum used to call me that" she said.

"I'm sorry" Cameron said gently as he could tell by her reaction that she meant Sam.

"It's okay" Peri breathed as she smiled sincerely at him, but the tears fell from her eyes anyway.

"Peri, what up? You can tell me, I can help you" Cameron said as he looked at his daughter with concern.

"No" Peri mumbled "You can't, no one can" she wiped her eyes before changing the subject which left Cameron confused and more worried.

Why do you and Mum fight so much?"

Cameron didn't know what to tell her as he looked at her "I don't know" he said honestly.

"I want you to get on" Peri whispered as she rested her head against her Dad's chest, feeling tired. "We'll try for you" Cameron promised as he stroked her hair.

They sat there in silence before Leela came down; seeing Peri and Cameron on the settee she smiled to herself just as Cameron turned around to look at her.

"Hey" Cameron offered as Leela's smile faded.

"Is she okay?" Leela said nodding towards their daughter.

"No" he said causing Leela to frown "I don't know, but something is bothering her"

"Yeah" Leela sighed "I've noticed. She's so up and down, but she won't tell me what's wrong" she walked over to them and sat on the coffee table in front of them watching Peri who had fallen asleep on her Dads lap.

"Do you think its Mum and Dad?" Leela asked without thinking as she stroked her daughter's hair back lightly.

"I think it's more than that, she told me that no one can help her" Cameron told her as they both looked down at a sleeping Peri.

"Are you okay to take her up?" Leela asked with a frown on her face as she wondered what was wrong with her daughter.

"Sure" Cameron replied as he carefully stood up from the couch with Peri in his arms, carrying her upstairs, he took her into her room and placed her on the bed.

He watched as Peri moved a little before settling again then he left the room, leaving to door open a crack as he leaned Peri liked it like that.

Walking back downstairs he saw Leela laid on the couch as she stared at her phone.

He walked over to the couch causing Leela to sit up so he sat down next to her and smiled wearily at her.

"Ziggy won't even talk to me" she moaned "He hates me"

"He doesn't hate you" he told her causing her to scoff.

"Oh believe me he does" she said as she found herself falling into easy conversation with him; she knew she shouldn't be here with him alone, she should go upstairs but something was stopping her.

"Why? What did you do?" he asked causing her to look at him awkwardly "Doesn't matter" she said quickly.

He shrugged as he watched her "Anyway, how could he hate you? You're like the most unhateable person I've ever known"

Leela scoffed and let out and laugh "Such a charmer" she said as she laid back down resting her head on his lap.

Their eyes met but Leela quickly looked away and back at her phone.

"Hey, he'll talk to you when he's ready, he loves you" Cameron said as he touched her cheek softly.

She frowned as she knew Cameron wasn't keen on Ziggy and he was hell-bent on getting her back so it confused her as to why he was being so nice to her, especially about Ziggy; she thought that Ziggy not speaking to her would make him happy but it seemed to make him the opposite.

They stayed on the couch together for a while just talking about mindless things before suddenly the door came open and Ste walked in followed by Tegan who was holding a sleeping Rose in her arms.

Leela sat up quickly and Tegan frowned at her as she looked between her and Cameron.

"Hey" she said "I'm going up" she told them as she made her way upstairs with Rose.

Ste closed the door and looked at Cameron then to Leela, he offered Leela a soft smile before quickly making his way upstairs; it wasn't a secret that Ste didn't like Cameron so Leela often ignored the fact that her Brother preferred to avoid a room when he was in it.

"You're Brother really doesn't like me does he?" Cameron asked with a chuckle.

"Nope" Leela said with a smirk "I'm not surprised really"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you rub people up the wrong way, you always have..." she trailed off.

"You like me though?"

"Hmm" she said absentmindedly as she leant back into his side and yawned.

"Why don't you go to bed?" he offered as he noticed her yawning.

"Yeah" she muttered but she made no move to get up so Cameron started to move "No, let's stay here for a minute" she mumbled as she felt tired, she pulled her legs up and leant further into his side.

It was silent for a while as Cameron just watched her, before she mumbled something really quietly.

"I love you" she mumbled.

Hearing those words made Cameron's heartache; he didn't get his hopes up because he just thought that maybe she thought he was Ziggy, and she made it quite clear earlier that they would never happen.

He smiled as he leant his head back against the couch, thoughts of the girl who was currently curled into his side filled his head before drifting to sleep.

As next morning came Leela was the first to wake as she untangled herself from Cameron's side a small frown covered her face, suddenly thoughts of Ziggy came back to her.

Cameron woke with a groan and as their eyes met Leela looked away quickly; she could feel that spark but she was determined that nothing was going to happen... again; sleeping with him just after her parents funeral was a mistake, or at least that's what she told herself.

"I need to see Ziggy" she said as she scurried up from the couch and made her way upstairs only to notice Ste staring at her.

"What?" she asked in irritation.

"I never heard you come to bed last not" he told her "Come to think of it I never heard Cameron either"

"Who are you the sleep police" she snapped causing him to raise his eyebrow "I fell asleep on the couch okay"

"With Cameron?" he smirked, but it wasn't really meant as a question because he knew the answer.

"Yes with Cameron but nothing happened, we just slept, god" Leela sighed as she went to her room and slammed the door as she was feeling agitated.


	7. Chapter 7

Leela sat on the couch as Peri sat in the armchair texting Tom no stop. Cameron and Ste were at work and Tegan was at Uni while Rose slept upstairs meaning Leela had been left to look after her.

She watched Peri who was smiling widely to herself while typing speedily on her phone.

"What?" Peri asked as she caught Leela staring at her.

"Nothing, it's just nice to see you happy" Leela told her honestly "Tom's good for you"

"Whatever" Peri replied as she looked back at her phone as another text came through.

"Pez, you know you can talk to me if anything's bothering you right?" Leela questioned.

"Yeah, I know but I'm fine" Peri dismissed.

Watching her daughter closely Leela frowned to herself as she knew something wasn't right.

Leela sat there stuck in her thoughts as her phone began blaring out signalling someone was calling her.

Looking at the caller ID she smiled as she answered it.

"Ziggy" she said with hope.

"Hey, urm, do you want to come over?" Ziggy asked with hesitation.

"Yes" Leela said a bit too quickly "I'm so glad you rang, I need to explain..." she trailed off as Ziggy interrupted.

"Just meet me at mine" Ziggy said on the other end.

"Okay" she said as a confused look crossed her face.

Just then Cameron walked in the door causing Peri to look up briefly before diverting her attention back to her phone

"I love you" she added as she glanced up at Cameron who gave her a small smile before heading into the kitchen.

"You too" Ziggy's mumbled reply came as he promptly hung up leaving Leela wondering what was next for them.

"Pez, can you keep a listen out for Rose please?" Leela asked as she stood up "I'm just popping out"

"Why can't Dad?" Peri asked as she looked up from her phone.

"Tegan doesn't want him looking after her" Leela told her.

"Why?" Peri and Cameron said at the same time as Cameron made his way into the living room and grabbed the remote, flicking the television on he sat on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table

Leela looked towards Cameron then back at Peri and sighed "Will you just listen out for her please"

"Fine, whatever" Peri said as a text message came through on her phone and she read it eagerly.

"See you later" she said.

"See ya" Cameron said as Peri didn't reply.

Slamming the door shut she made her way down the village steps and to the Roscoe house.

As she got where the house was she went around the back and tapped on the glass.

She let herself in as she saw Ziggy sat at the kitchen island looking deep in thought.

"Hey" she said as she walked over to him, going to kiss him but he pulled back.

She pulled back with a frown "Ziggy, you're mad, but just hear me out"

"Lee, what is there to say?" he asked as he stood up and walked into the lounge causing Leela to follow him.

"I love you" she said as she didn't really know what else to say, but she had to try.

"And I love you, I really do, but I'm not what you really want" he said as he sat down on the couch.

"Yes you are" Leela pleaded as she sat down beside him and took his hands in hers.

"Tell me that I'm all you think about, tell me that when I touch you all you feel is me, when we make love all you see is me..." he trailed off as he watched her face "You can't can you?"

Feeling the hot tears threatening to fall she shook her head slightly as he moved his hands from her grasp.

Ziggy smiled painful at her "I want you to be happy"

"You make me happy, I love you"

"But you love him too" he said causing tears to fall down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"Me too" he told her "You were to first girl I ever wanted to get serious with, I could see a future with you"

"Zig..."

"I'm not blaming you" he told her gently "I just wasn't enough for you" he reached out and wiped her tears away.

"I never wanted to hurt you, I am so sorry" she said with emotion.

"Stop apologising" he told her causing her to smile "Just be happy"

"We can still be friends" she told him "Just because we're not together doesn't mean we can't be friends"

"Yeah..." her trailed off as her looked at her; the girl he loved. It was going to take time but they could be friends again. He knew if he loved her he had to let her go because she was too scared to do it herself so he would have to do it for her; he just wanted her to be happy and if that wasn't with him then he had to accept that.

"You're an amazing guy Zig and any girl would be lucky to have you" she said "The real you" she added; before Leela Ziggy had been a womanizer who cheated repeatedly on girls.

Ziggy chuckled as he smiled at her "Can I just do one last thing?" he asked.

Nodding silently at him he leant forward and placed a chaste kiss to her lips before pulling back.

Just then Freddie and Lindsey came in.

"Hey Leela" Lindsey said "You staying for tea?" she asked before looking at Ziggy "Your Mum's making her famous bangers and mash"

"Nah, Leela's just going" Ziggy said awkwardly as he looked towards Leela "Yeah, I gotta get back to Peri anyway" Leela said as she stood up and walked over to the door as Ziggy went into the kitchen with Lindsey.

Leela turned back and looked at Ziggy in the kitchen with his Brother and Lindsey; her eyes full of regret, but also relief that she didn't have to pretend anymore and that her and Ziggy could still be friends after everything.


	8. Chapter 8

Leaving the Roscoe house she made her way back to her house.

"Hey" Ste called as he left 'The Hutch'

"Hey" Leela replied, walking over to him.

"What's up with you?" Ste asked noticing her sad face.

"Just thinking" she told him as they continued to walk "Me and Ziggy broke up" she suddenly blurted out.

"Oh" Ste said as he wasn't really surprised "So..." he trailed off.

"So what?" Leela asked.

"So... You going to go for it with Cameron?" Ste asked causing Leela to smirk.

"That's for me to know and..." Leela began as they arrived at the front door of the house, she opened it as she went to continue but she stopped short as she found Peri and Cameron yelling at each other.

"Where's Rose?" Leela questioned as she and Ste made their way into the house, shutting the door behind them.

"She's upstairs with Tegan" Peri snapped as she glared at her Dad.

"Okay, what happened?" Leela questioned as Ste silently went upstairs, deciding to leave them to it.

"Ask him" Peri said before storming upstairs.

Leela looked at Cameron accusingly and he just shrugged.

"She's overreacting" he said "She was upstairs and her phone went off..."

Leela looked at him to continue.

"I just had a quick peek"

Leela sighed heavily as she walked over to the sink, getting herself a glass of water.

"It's a good job I did" he told her.

"Why?" Leela asked.

"Because she's taking inappropriate pictures off herself and sending them to people"

Leela spluttered her water out and laughed out loud.

"Don't laugh, that's my little girl" he said "She shouldn't be doing that" he added awkwardly.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad, besides she was probably only gonna send it to Tom"

Cameron grunted as he sat down on the couch.

Leela walked over and sat down next to him "Peri's not stupid" she said trying to cheer him up.

Her comment was met with silence.

"Anyway where did you go?" Cameron asked her after a moment.

"Ziggy's" she said without further explanation.

"And?" Cameron asked as he looked at her.

"And we broke up" Leela told him as she looked for his reaction.

The corner of Cameron's mouth lifted in a small smile but it quickly went as he locked eyes with Leela.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"No you're not" Leela stated as she looked at him and smirked.

"Not really" he admitted as she just lifted her legs up and curled into his side which was quickly becoming a habit of hers.

Putting his arm around her he held her close while absentmindedly brushing his fingers up and down the side of her arm.

Looking up at him their eyes met, feeling the sexual tension between them he lowered his head and placed kiss to her lips, anticipating her reaction he went to pull back but she stopped him and deepened the kiss as she snaked her arms around his neck and moved position so she could kiss him fully.

As they both got into the kiss they heard the soft sobs of their daughter, pulling apart they saw her stood at the foot of the stairs crying.

"I didn't send it" she mumbled as she looked at Cameron before walking over and sitting beside her Mum.

"What's the matter?" Leela questioned as she focused all her attention on her daughter who just began crying even more "We can help you if you tell us what it is?"

"I think my brain tumours back" Peri said as her voice broke from her sobs.

"What? No, why? Why do you think that?" Leela asked in disbelief.

"I'm getting headaches" Peri said "and..." a fresh set of tears came cascading down her cheeks "I see them "she cried "I thought it would stop after the funeral but it hasn't"

"You're been having them since the funeral?" Leela asked as Cameron stayed quiet beside her.

"Yeah, I was so scared, I tried to forget about it but the headaches keep coming back" she said, her voice laced with fear.

"Why didn't you tell someone?" Leela asked quietly as she processed what her daughter was telling her.

Peri silently shrugged as she looked between her Mum and Dad.

Leela took her daughter's hands in her own and did her best to reassure her that everything would be okay, although she didn't know for sure; she just needed to do something to comfort her scared daughter because she hated seeing her so upset.

"I'm phoning the hospital, they can do scans and stuff" Leela said quickly before getting up from the couch.

Grabbing the phone Leela called the hospital while staring blankly at her daughter who was currently sitting unmoved on the couch.

"Dad..."

Cameron looked at his daughter and pulled her into his side "We'll sort this out, if it is back we will deal with it together, you're not alone" he reassured her; he had heard from Ste about last time she had it and how they operated to remove it.

Cameron sat there hugging his daughter as the possibility of it being back filled his mind.

"Dad..." Peri asked as she looked up at him "I love you"

Peri had never actually told him out loud that she loved him. She did love him though, but it had just never been said out loud before.

"I love you too" Cameron assured her with a smile.

"Right, you've got an appointment for 10:30 tomorrow morning" Leela said as she reappeared.

Leela walked over to the couch and sat down as she noticed her daughter visibly squirm.

"Hey, it's okay, we'll be there with you and if the worse happens we will deal with it" Leela promised.

"Promise you won't leave me" Peri said as she sat up and looked between her parents.

"We promise" Cameron said as him and Leela glanced worriedly at each other.

"How about we go out, just us yeah?" Leela asked.

"Can we go bowling?" Peri asked with a smile as she loved bowling.

"Sure" Leela said.

"Can Tom come?" Peri asked.

Leela looked unsure but Cameron jumped in "Yeah, course he can"

"Great" Peri said as she got up from the couch and made her way upstairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Rolling over onto her side as she woke from her deep sleep she looked at her bedside table and smiled at the photos that were laying there; last night after bowling they had used the photo booth; smiling at the images in front of her Peri remembered how much fun she had. One strip of pictures was of her, Leela and Cameron, and they looked happy together; they looked like a family should. The other strip was of her and Tom pulling funny faces, one of him kissing her on the cheek and another one of them smiling together as Tom had his arm around her.

Peri looked at the pictures for a moment before smiling sadly and getting out of bed as she remembered the day ahead of her; today was the day she was going to find out if her tumor was really back or not and she was so scared, she didn't what it to be back but her headaches were persist, even now; they never stopped and they made her think the worse.

She stopped at her full length mirror and stared at her reflection before her eyes wandered to a hanging picture of her 'Mum' and 'Dad'; gone but not forgotten, they may have only been her grandparents after all but she loved and missed them every day and today she really wanted them here, but she had her real Mum and Dad and she knew that would be enough; it would have to be enough...

Walking out of her room she made her way downstairs.

"Hey kiddo" Ste said from the kitchen table as he gave her a sympathetic smile; she knew he only cared but it annoyed her, she didn't want people's pity, to her that just meant that they believed the worse.

Peri went into the kitchen and found her favourite cereal before pouring herself a bowl, as she made her way to the fridge and opened it she noticed there was no milk.

"Where the milk?" she asked.

"Sorry" Ste said causing her to turn around and see him shaking the empty milk carton "I can go and get more"

"Don't bother" she sighed heavily before leaving the kitchen empty-handed and going back upstairs.

As she stood on the landing she noticed her Mum's bedroom door open so she went in.

"Mum..." she started to say as she saw her Mum and Dad kissing on the bed.

"Morning baby" Leela said as she pulled her lips from Cameron's and offered her a smile.

Cameron smiled at his daughter before getting up and taking her hand in his own, he gave it a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Peri and Leela watched with a smile on their faces as he left.

"Come here baby" Leela said as Peri looked back at her with a distressed look on her face.

Walking over to her Mum she threw herself in her arms and hugged her tightly as she let out a scared sob.

"It's going to be okay" Leela whispered causing Peri to look up at her.

"You can't know that" Peri said.

"Whatever happens we will get though it baby" Leela said as she pulled her daughter in for another hug and kissed the top of her head as she tried to hold her own emotions in; she knew that today could go very different from the way they wanted it to, she knew that her little girl's tumor could be back but what was she meant to do? She had to be positive.

"I'm scared" Peri said as she looked up with tears in her eyes "I don't want to die"

That was the breaking of Leela as a tear rolled down her cheek, quickly wiping it away she stood up "You're going to be okay, if it's back they can treat it" she said offering her daughter a smile as she tried to hide her own fears "It's going to be okay, it's probably not even back and if it is you will be in the best place and you will get the best possible care I promise" she looked at her daughter who sat on the bed looking scared and worried, reaching her arm out she offering Peri her hand.

"How about you get ready then I'll meet you downstairs" Leela said as Peri took her hand and stood up.

Peri walked to the door and went to leave but Leela stopped her.

"We'll get though this" she whispered causing her daughter to look at her "As a family"

Peri nodded weakly before leaving the room and going to get ready.

Once she was ready she walked downstairs seeing Cameron was the only one down there.

"Where's Ste?" she asked.

"He went to see John-Paul" Cameron told her as he walked over to her "How are you baby?" he asked.

"Fine" Peri snapped "I might be dying but yeah I'm great" she began to cry.

"Shh I'm here baby girl, every step of the way" Cameron promised as he pulled her in and hugged her close "You aren't going to die, and do you know why..." he pulled back so he could look at her "Because you're my brave, beautiful, strong girl and whatever the test shows you will fight because you're a fighter, and..." his voice broke with emotion that he very rarely showed "and if you can't fight me and your Mum will fight for you, whatever it takes, because we love you so much"

"I love you" Peri said through tears.

"Love you too baby girl" he said as he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

Leela stood at the top of the stairs as she watched father and daughter before he spotted her and smiled.

Making her way downstairs she smiled at him "Right, shall we get going?"

She walked over to the table as she got her bag ready before walking to the door.

Peri looked up at her Dad with a panicked look as he tried to silently reassure her, without a word she slipped her hand in her Dad's and they made their way the door together.

Leaving the house Leela locked the door before turning to her daughter and Cameron who was now her 'unofficial' boyfriend; they hadn't really talked about it but they both knew how the other felt and after her break-up with Ziggy she couldn't deny her feelings anymore.

Peri dropped her Dad's hand suddenly and stopped in her track causing both him and Leela to look at her "What's wrong? Come on baby" Leela said carefully as she walked over to her and took her hand.

Peri shook her head frantically as she began crying silently to herself "I can't... Please don't make me"

"We have to" Leela told her gently "We need to know if it's back..." she trailed off.

"Come on, where's the brave girl I know you" Cameron said as her walked over to them.

"I'm not brave" Peri cried.

"You are, come on..." Cameron offered her his hand "We can do this together"

Peri took his hand as she slowly began to walk forward.

Leela looked admiringly at Cameron and silently thanked him; she was slowly falling more and more in love with him; he was an amazing Dad to Peri and she just loved him even more for that.


	10. Chapter 10

**If the medical stuff in this doesn't quite add up please don't moan about it, I know, I will try to make it close to reality as possible bit I'm no doctor so I don't know this stuff but please read and be kind**

* * *

Peri sat nervously waiting for her name to be called; she asked her Mum to go in with her as only one person could come in with her and she wanted her Mum.

Leela sat on her daughter's right as her mind thought of all the possible outcomes from today.

Cameron was sat next to Leela as he let the silence consume them all, they were all in their own little world as they sat their waiting to find out if the tumor was back or not.

A tall man with blonde hair came out of a side room and walked into the waiting area causing both Leela and Cameron to look up, they looked at each other with worry as the young Doctor called Peri's name.

Leela looked at Cameron before getting up and holding her hand out for Peri to take, and eventually she did, standing up she held on tightly to her Mum's hand as they followed the Doctor into the little room.

"Good luck" Cameron called after them causing Peri to turn around and smile softly at him before disappearing into the room.

Cameron watched as the door his daughter had gone into closed and to him the sound of it closing was the loudest sound in the world as he knew once she came out it wouldn't be long before they knew if her brain tumor was back.

Looking around the waiting area Cameron saw a man and woman with a little girl; a family he guessed, a doctor was speaking to them and whatever he said caused the woman to fall into the man's arms as she let out a piercing sob.

Looking away he looked back at the closed-door and waited for it to open, the waiting seemed to go on forever as he thought about all the years he missed; the years he didn't even know he had a daughter.

He mindlessly picked up magazine after magazine before flinging them back down as he got more and more restless.

Suddenly the door opened and Leela came out holding Peri close to her side, walking over to him they sat down as they had to wait for the results to come through.

"The doctor said it won't be too long" Leela said as she took Cameron's hand and clung to it "Then we'll know for sure" she whispered while looking at him before turning her attention back to her little girl; she only just got her back, she couldn't lose her again; Peri was her everything, she kept her strong after the pain of losing her parents; Peri was what she lived for know.

"It'll be okay" Leela whispered quietly to herself as she kissed the top of her daughter's head, her hand was still firmly in Cameron's as she squeezed it tightly.

Both parents looked at the girl beside them; she looked so young in that moment as her face displayed fear and worry, she turned to them and tried to smile at them but the fear was too much.

"It's not back" she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and leant into her Mum's side "It's not back" she repeated as she felt her Mum's soothing touch; her Mum, even as her Sister Leela always knew how to help her, sometimes she thought that maybe she should have guessed that Leela was her Mum all along because there were tiny little things she remembered that Leela would do for her; things that only a Mum would do.

The minutes ticked by as the small family sat in silence before they heard footsteps approaching them.

"Peri, if you'd like the follow me, we have you're results" a nurse said.

The trio got up and followed the nurse as she led them into a small office where a Doctor sat.

"Hello Peri" the Doctor said as the nurse gave him a bit of paper and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Is this your Mum and Dad?" he asked.

"Yeah" Peri said as she waited eagerly for her results.

Leela and Cameron sat either side of Peri as they waited for the Doctor to read out her results.

"Please, just tell us" Leela said to the Doctor as she looked at him "Is it back?" her voice broke with emotion as she tried to hold her tears back.

The Doctor looked at Peri who gave him a small smile.

"Okay, there is no easy way to say this..." the Doctor paused briefly before continuing "It's back" he said as he looked solely at Peri "Your brain tumor is back"

Peri sat there, the words floated around in her mind on repeat as she looked towards her Mum who hadn't said a word.

"No" she cried "No, no, no" she chanted as her Dad pulled her to him and hugged her close.

"Wh.. wha... what can we do? You can help her right? Please, you have to help her, she's my daughter, please please please... It can't be back" Leela rambled as she cried "My baby, you have to help her"

Peri looked up as she heard the sound of her Mum's distraught voice; she slipped her hand into her Mum's before looking back at the Doctor.

"Can you get rid of it?" she asked.

"Because of where the tumor is I'm afraid we can't operate to get rid of it like last time..." Peri's face fell as she heard the Doctor tell her they couldn't help her this time "But we have some drugs that we are very positive about, they will work to shrink it enough so we can hopefully remove it"

"So she's going to be okay?" Cameron asked from Peri's side.

"Well the good news is that the tumor isn't growing so the medication should help shrink it and then we can operate to removed it"

"What if it doesn't shrink it?" Leela whispered as she looked at the Doctor.

"Well as I said with your daughter's condition I am fairly confident that this medication will be 100% effective, but the slight chance it's not would mean that the tumor will either stay like it is now or grow, but I'm positive that that's not the case for your daughter"

"Wh... What if it grows?" Peri asked shakily as fear clearly laced her voice.

"If it grows it could be very dangerous, it's bigger than last time and because of that and where it is it could put pressure on other parts of your brain, depending where will depend what it could affect such as speak, movement... But Peri you have to remember this is the worst case scenario for you and the chances of this happening are low"

The Doctor did something on his computer and printed something out before looking back up at Peri.

"I'm going to give you a prescription for some tablets that should help shrink it, take one 3 times a day with water and make sure not to have food because it could stop the effectiveness of the medication" The Doctor then looked at Cameron and Leela "And please read the leaflet that comes with the medication carefully, there are very few side effects but there are some though they aren't anything to be worried about, if it was I wouldn't even think about giving you this medication but as I say I am certain it's the best course of treatment for your daughter"

The Doctor signed the prescription before handing it to Peri who took it slowly; she looked at it and a tear fell onto to paper as she sobbed quietly from hearing what the Doctor was telling her.

Leela looked at her daughter and gently squeezed her hand to remind her that she wasn't alone.

"I will give you some leaflets that will explain the symptoms to look out for and if you get any, any at all you come straight back okay?" Peri nodded so the Doctor continued "I will need to see you in 6 weeks anyway as a routine check-up, then after that it will be 12 weeks to see if the medication has done its job" Peri looked vacantly at the Doctor as he stopped speaking.

"Okay" she whispered after a minute; her brain was taking all this information in while she tried to push the negative thoughts away.

"If you go to Reception my Secretary will make an appointment for you"


	11. Chapter 11

The small family had arrived home from the hospital a few hours ago and Peri had yet to speak; she sat on the end of the couch not speaking, she refused anything to eat or drink as Leela and Cameron just watched her with concern.

Leela could understand her daughter's behavior as it was a lot to take in what the hospital had told them, she guessed she just needed time but she hoped Peri knew that she was there for her. Her and Cameron would get her through this because they both loved her so much.

Both Cameron and Leela sat there unsure of what to do; every time they spoke they would be met by a deafening silence.

"Hunnie, talk to us" Cameron said gently.

"What do you want me to say?" Peri snapped as she glared at both her parents "You heard what the Doctor said"

"And they can help you, he seemed pretty certain that the tablets will work" Leela said as she watched the pain on her daughters face and it was killing her; she thought that the tumor must be something she gave her, or Cameron, they are her biologically parents so she must have inherited something to make it grow from them.

"Yeah but there is still a chance they won't, then what?" Peri said as she looked at her Mum in defeat "I die" she whispered softly "Then you won't have to worry about me" her eyes brimmed with tears as they slowly began to fall.

"Baby, don't say that, don't ever say that" Leela said as she rushed over and pulled her daughter into her arms as she let the tears freely fall.

Peri composed herself the best she could before pulling out of the embrace, getting up she mumbled something before making a hasty exit through the back door.

Leela went to rush after her but Cameron stopped her by placing a hand on her arm "Give her space, she's struggling…"

Leela looked at him in shock as she cut him off "She needs to be at home where we can look after her"

Meanwhile Peri had tear stains running down her face as she ran down the village steps, she was heading in the direction of Tom's but someone lightly caught her by the arm causing her to stop.

"Are you okay?" they asked with concern as they saw her appearance.

"Nope" she said simply as she snatched her arm back "But don't pretend to care, you're not dating Leela now so you don't need to pretend"

"I'm not pretending, I care, you're an amazing girl and just because me and Leela aren't together doesn't mean I'm going to stop caring" Ziggy told her.

Peri burst into tears in front of him and fell into his arms as she cried "It's back" she said between sobs "My brain tumor, it's back"

Now she began crying even harder as she realised the harsh reality; why was this happening to her?

Ziggy didn't know what to say so he just hugged her.

After what seemed like ages she looked up at him as she sniffed, wiping her eyes on the long sleeves of her top she gave him a weak and slightly embarrassed smile "Sorry"

"What are you sorry for?" he asked gently.

She didn't answer as she glanced up blankly at her house before looking back at him.

"I need to see Tom" she muttered as she ran off, not giving him time to reply as he stood there staring after her unsure of what to do.

As Peri got to the front of 'The Dog in the Pond' she let out a sigh of relief as she made her way to the entrance and walked in, making sure to wipe any evidence of tears of her face.

"Hey Jack, is Tom in?" she asked brightly.

"Sure, just head up" he said as he smiled kindly at the young girl.

"Thanks" she said before walking behind the bar and up to the flat.

The flat door was open so she walked in just as Tom appeared from his bedroom.

"Hey" he said happily as he walked over to his girlfriend.

Rather than verbally responding Peri pulled him in and kissed him zealously, tugging him closer to her she forced herself into the kiss which he eagerly returned.

They stayed kissing until the need for air overpowered them.

"Wow" Tom said as he pulled away.

"Yeah" she said as she smiled softly at him.

So how are you?" Tom asked.

"Yeah… Yeah I'm fine, great even, why wouldn't I be?" she said in a rush.

Tom gave her a weird look before offering her a drink.

"No, let's go to your room" she said before grabbing his hand and leading him to his room.

Once they entered his room she dropped his hand and went to sit on the bed.

He looked at her as he stood by his door, noticing she was shaking her leg he went over to her and sat down beside her, placing his hand on her knee to still it he looked at her with worry.

"You don't look okay, you can tell me if anything is wrong you know?" he offered.

"I love you" she blurted out.

"Yeah I know, I love you too" he said.

"Touch me" she said suddenly as she grabbed his hand which now rested in between them on the bed.

He laced their fingers together and stroked her knuckles in a shy manner.

"No, not like that" she told him as she brought his free hand to her lower thigh and glanced at him through her eyelashes "Touch me like that"

"Unless you don't want to, you don't like me like that, it's fine, FINE" she snapped, going to get up but Tom's hand and voice stopped her.

"I do want to" he said as he slowly moved his hand higher causing her to close her eyes.

She grabbed his other hand and placed it on her covered chest but he was the one to move his hand and snake it under her top so he could touch her bare skin.

"Take it off" she said as she snapped her eyes open and looked at him.

"W.. What?" he stuttered nervously as he held his hand under her top feeling the smooth skin there.

"My top, take my top off" she said as she moved her hands to the bottom of her top, encouraged him to take her top off.

He slowly lifted the top from her body before seeing her purple bra and chucking the top to the floor, he kissed her eagerly as all his nervous thoughts were gone.

They kissed for a while before she pushed him away from her and ran out of the room with a whispered sorry.

She got out of his bedroom and let out a breath as she began crying; she couldn't believe what she was doing, she just found out her brain tumor was back and here she was being reckless.

Realising she hadn't got her top she panicked as she looked around the lounge; luckily no one was there, she went to go back into his room to get it but he came out and handed it to her.

She gave him an uneasy smile and muttered thanks before kissing him on the cheek and quickly leaving.


	12. Chapter 12

"Why did this happen? Why her? Why? What did she do to deserve this" Leela sobbed as she couldn't understand why this was happening to her daughter "It was gone, she was alright, and now..." she trailed off as her voice broke and the tears overtook.

"It will be okay..." Cameron told her as he stroked her hair soothingly "The Doctor is really positive, we need to deal with the now and if it gets worse we will deal with that when it happens"

Leela lifted her head from where it rested in his lap and looked at him blankly "You weren't there last time, it was horrible, I was so useless and it's happening again..." a fresh load of tears came flowing down her cheeks as she tried to continue "I can't, I... I'm not them, I can't... I'm useless, Mum would have known what to do" she sniffed as she tried to stop the tears but they just kept coming "I'm a terrible Mum"

"Leela..." He started as he reached out and lightly wiped her tears away "You are an amazing Mum and you can be there for Peri" his eyes met her damp ones "You are the strongest person I know and you need to be strong, for Peri, for our daughter"

Leela felt like her daughter's condition was down to her but the truth was that it just happened; one of those things, no one caused it, it was just an unlucky fate, but a Mother hated to see her daughter so ill so that is why Leela was so upset.

Cameron was upset too but he knew he needed to be strong for his daughter; he also needed to be strong for Leela because she was struggling and if this was how she was he could only imagine how much Peri would need him.

"I need you Cameron, we need you, promise you won't leave us" Leela rambled as she wiped her eyes.

"Nothing in this world would make me leave you, you and Peri are my world, I love you both so much and I'm not going anywhere" he told her as he played with the ends of her soft hair.

As Leela studied his face she was about to reply but the door came open causing both their heads to turn in that direction as they hoped it was Peri, but the person that stood in front of them told them is wasn't.

Moving positions so she was more comfortable she smiled weakly at her Brother.

"I got your text, what is it? Is she okay?" Ste asked in a hurry.

Leela looked to Cameron as she dissolved in tears again causing Ste to fear the worst.

"It's back" Cameron whispered as she stroked his girlfriend's hair.

"But they can help her right?" Ste asked as his mind felt numb and his heart sank for his little sister/niece; Ste always thought of Peri as a Sister so in many ways he still thought of her like that.

"She's got some medication to try and help, but they can't treat it like last time, not until it gets smaller" Cameron told him as Leela tried to compose herself.

"It will though, it will get small?" Ste asked hesitantly.

"The medication is supposed to do that" Leela whispered for the first time since Ste arrived.

"But..."Ste looked between the two parents "It might not?"

"We need to be positive" Leela said with a shaky voice as she tried not to cry again.

The Brother and Sister looked at each other as they both felt lost for words, Leela got up and rushed over to her brother and hugged him "She'll be okay" she whispered as she hugged him; she had to believe that because what else did she have apart from hope.

"Where is she now?" Ste asked, pulling away from the hug.

"She went to Tom's I think" Leela told him.

"Oh, well I'm going to go take a shower" he said as he thought about his sister/niece; he wished there was something he could do to help her.

Leela walked back over to Cameron and sat on his lap as she put her arms around his neck "I love you, you know that right?"

"I know" he smiled as his arms rested on her hips "I love you too"

"We'll get through this right?" she asked with fear in her bright blue eyes.

Cameron was about to reply but Peri walked through the door.

"Babe" Leela said as she got off Cameron's lap and walked over to her "Where have you been?"

"Tom's" she said before stumbling forward as she tried to go upstairs "What's wrong?" Leela asked as she caught her and looked her in the eyes.

"Nothing, I'm fine, just a headache" she said as she walked to the couch and sat down with a sigh, putting her head in her hands "I'm used to them" she said sadly as she looked up at her Mum and tears filled her eyes.

Cameron got up and walked over to his daughter; sitting next to her he pulled her into his side and hugged her as Leela went to get her a tablet from her medication box.

"Here" she said as she handed her daughter the pill and a glass of water "Take three a day, so take your next one before you go to sleep okay?" Peri nodded silently before taking her medication.

"Can I go upstairs now?" she asked vacantly.

"Sure sweetie" Leela said.

"Let's go to bed" Leela said after a moment before holding her hand out for Cameron to take.

Even though they were together in a sense they still slept separately; Leela in her room and Cameron in his room.

Walking upstairs Cameron went to go in his room but Leela stopped him and pulled him with her in the direction of her room.

"Are you sure?" he asked and she nodded.

"I don't want to be alone" she whispered before entering her room with him closely behind her.


	13. Chapter 13

Leela smiled to herself as Cameron walked back into her bedroom after his shower wearing only his boxers.

"What you smiling about?" he asked as he watched her eyes trail down his body.

"Do you think it would have been different?" she asked after a moment before sitting up and crawling over to where he sat on the end of the bed "I mean if we raised Peri, if you hadn't of gone to prison, we would have been happy"

"We would have been happy" he said as he tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear "But it wasn't different, we didn't raise Peri and I did go to prison" he noticed the frown on her face as he said this "But we're happy now" he told her as he placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Cameron" she said causing him to look at her "She'll be okay won't she?"

"She's our daughter, of course she will be okay, she's a fighter" he tried to reassure her.

"I can't lose her, I just can't..." she trailed off as she tried to hold back the tears.

"We won't lose her, I won't let anything happen to her, I lost her for 14 years and I'm not doing it again" Cameron said firmly.

Reaching up she softly stroked his face and traced the outline of his stubble with her finger "Love you" she said quietly "I meant it the other day when I said it too"

"I thought you were asleep" he said in surprise.

"It's always been you Cam" she whispered "No other guy has come close"

"I love you too" he said as he pushed her down on the bed and climbed on top of her making her giggle, the giggle quickly turned into a string of moans as his lips found her neck.

"Um..." came a quiet voice causing Leela to look over Cameron's shoulder, seeing it was Peri she pushed Cameron off of her and stood up "Peri..." she called but she was gone.

"Well that was embarrassing" Cameron said as he grinned up at her.

"Cameron" she shouted as she picked the nearest thing to her up and chucked it at him.

"Ow" he said in mock pain.

"Shut up" Leela said before walking back over to him and climbing on his lap "You know, I should really go and see what Peri wanted" she told him before leaning in and kissing him.

After a few minutes of kissing him she pulled back much to his annoyance "I should go, we will continue this later" she said before leaving the room with a wicked grin on her face.

Walking to Peri's room she saw her sat on her bed staring at what looked like a photo.

"Hey" Leela spoke quietly "Can I come in?"

Peri nodded so Leela walked in and sat beside her "I miss them" Peri said referring to the picture of Sam and Danny that she had in her hands.

"I know you do" Leela said as she placed a kiss on the side of her daughters head causing Peri to look at her "Don't you?" she questioned causing Leela to frown slightly.

"Of course I miss them" Leela admitted "But I've still got you, and Ste, and Tegan and little Rose"

"I guess" Peri smiled weakly as she looked at the picture one last time before placing in back on her desk.

"So, you and Dad are officially back together then?" Peri questioned.

"Yeah" Leela admitted with a goofy smile on her face "I guess I've always been in love with your Dad"

Peri looked at her Mum for a moment before slowly smiling "Well I'm happy for you"

The room filled with silence before Leela spoke "Have you taken you tablet?" she asked as she saw Peri's medication box on her bedside table.

"Yeah" Peri sighed "Mum..."

"Hmm" Leela looked at her daughter in question.

"Do you think they will work?" Leela looked confused for a second before realising what he daughter was asking.

"I think there is a good chance they might" Leela said as she pulled her daughter into her side and hugged her.

"So, are you going to see Tom today?"

"No" Peri said as she pulled away from the hug and looked up at her Mum.

"What's wrong?" Leela questioned as she could see something was bothering her daughter.

"Tom doesn't know it's back" Peri admitted quietly "I didn't know how to tell him, I was scared"

"It's okay, we can tell him together if you'd like" Peri nodded at this "Can we just stay in and watch a film? Just you, me and Dad"

"Peri I've got to go to work" Leela told her.

"Please, can't you get some time off, please Mum" Peri begged as she looked at her sadly.

"Okay" Leela sighed "I'll see what I can do"

Peri smiled as she watched the person she grew up calling her sister leave her room.

Walking back to her room Leela sniggered quietly as she saw Cameron lying on the bed with a slight frown.

"Hey grumpy" she said as she walked in the room and closed the door.

"You left me high and dry babe" he muttered causing her to laugh out loud.

"This isn't funny, come on babe, five minutes" he said from his position on the bed.

"Five minutes?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Cameron sat up and pulled her down on the bed with him "Five minutes" he whispered in her ear.

"I need to ring work to see if I can take some time off, Peri needs me, she needs us" Leela told him as he began nibbling on her earlobe.

Leela tried to resist Cameron but what he was doing to her was driving her crazy with desire "You've go five minutes" she said as she dragged his lips to hers, stopping just before he could capture her lips in his own "This better be good" she added with a massive grin before smashing their lips together in a heated frenzy.


	14. Chapter 14

30 minutes later Leela and Cameron descended the stairs looking very much dishevelled as they chatted quietly to each other, Peri and Tegan watched them from the kitchen as Leela tried to smooth her hair down.

"Hey you two" Tegan called causing them to snap their heads towards her.

Leela tried to hide her smirk as she walked into the kitchen "Hey Teegs" she smiled before turning to her daughter "So I rang work and they said I can take the afternoon off but I have to go in this morning for a bit, why don't you go and see one of your mates, I'm sure Nico is free"

"No, I'll just stay here" Peri said as she was reluctant to see her friends because she didn't want to tell them her tumour was back; they would just give her pity and feel sorry for her.

"Okay" Leela looked at Cameron who stood at the foot of the stairs then back to Peri "So we'll watch a movie when I get back?"

"Yep" Peri smiled.

"How about you go to the shop and get some snacks and stuff?" Leela asked as she held out a ten pound note for her daughter to take.

"No" she declined.

"Come on, you can buy whatever you want" Leela offered with a small smile.

"What if I bump into Tom or one of my friends?" Peri asked worriedly.

"Peri, there're your friends..." Leela started but Peri cut her off "I don't want to tell them, they will just feel sorry for me, I just wish this stupid tumour never came back, why me, what did I do for this to happen to me, I just want my Mum and Dad" Peri said as she ran upstairs leaving Tegan, Leela and Cameron shocked.

"I've tried so hard to be enough" Leela muttered as Tegan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She's just upset, she knows your her Mum Leela, she just misses them" Tegan offered.

"Tegan's right, look you go to work and I'll speak to her, try to persuade her to come to the shop with me" Cameron offered causing Leela to look at him and smile

"You're right, it must be so hard for her, I just wish I could make it all go away" Leela said before hunting for her car keys "Right, I best be off" she said once she found her keys, she walked over to Cameron and gave him a quick kiss before shouting up to Peri and telling her she was going, although she got no reply.

"See you later" Cameron said, he quickly stole another kiss before letting her escape to the door.

"Later Teegs" she said before walking out the door and heading off to work.

"Right, I'm going for a quick shower, can you listen out for Rose please?" Tegan asked Cameron who looked shocked "You're great with Peri, I trust you" she told him before heading upstairs.

Cameron made himself a coffee before sitting down and flicking the television on; he watched some news before deciding to go and check on Peri.

Heading upstairs he made his way to Peri's room.

"Can I come in?" he called as he knocked on the closed-door.

"Yeah" came Peri's shaky voice which sounded like she had been crying.

Opening the door Cameron walked in to see his daughter sitting in the middle of the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest as she hugged herself.

"Hey" he whispered as he sat on the bed "Come here" Peri slowly moved over to her Dad and let him embrace her in his arms as she started crying "It's going to be okay" Cameron promised as he rubbed soothing circles into her back "It's okay to be scared" he told her gently.

"I'm sorry about what said" she said as she pulled away from the hug and wiped her own tears away "I need you and Leela, you're my parents" she smiled wearily "But I wish they were still here, they were my parents too, just because they weren't my real parents doesn't mean I don't miss them, I loved them"

"I know you did, it's okay to miss them, to want them too, they where your parents for fourteen years, you're allowed to miss them" Cameron reassured her.

"I've never seen her this happy" Peri suddenly said.

"Who?" Cameron asked in confusion.

"Mum" Peri said "Leela, she really loves you, you know"

"Well that's good because I really love her, you and her mean everything to me" Cameron told her honestly "Come on, how about me and you go to the shop, get some treats for later?"

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute" Peri said so Cameron took that as his queue to leave.

Cameron made his way downstairs and noticed Tegan on the settee "I'm taking Rose into town, she needs new... well everything, she's growing so fast"

"Ready" Peri said as she slowly walked down the stairs.

"She seems happier" Tegan said to Cameron who just smiled at his daughter.

"Right, I'm going, see you Pez" Tegan said as she put Rose in her new buggy that she had just brought her and left the house.

...

Arriving home from the shops with bags full of sweets and fizzy pop they walked into the kitchen and put the bags down.

"When's Mum supposed to be back?" Peri asked.

"About an hour" Cameron told her.

They watched a bit of television and had some lunch as they waited for Leela to get home.

"She should be home by now?" Peri said "I'm going to ring her" she told Cameron as she took her phone out of her pocket.

After the third ring it went to voicemail so Peri sighed and hung up; _she'll be home soon_ she thought to herself as she put her phone on the arm of the couch where she sat "No answer, she's probably running late or something"

"Yeah, how about we watch a film then when she comes in we can put another one in?" Cameron suggested.

"Okay" Peri said as she got up from the couch "I'm going to get a drink, what one?" she asked.

"No thanks" Cameron said as he began to wonder where Leela was; she normally rang if she was going to be late.

Just then the door opened.


	15. Chapter 15

"He..." Peri began as she walked out of the kitchen "Oh, it's you"

"Nice to see you too little sis" Ste said as he closed the door.

"Sorry, I thought you were Leela" Peri told him causing him to smile.

"Well l'll be upstairs if anyone wants me" Ste announced before disappearing upstairs.

"Why don't you and Ste get on?" Peri asked as she sat down beside Cameron.

"I don't know, but we have one thing in common" Cameron said.

"What?" Peri asked curiously.

"You" Cameron smiled at her.

"I guess" she shrugged as she picked a DVD to watch.

"Frozen" Cameron stated.

"Yeah, it's awesome, and before you say it, I am not too old for it"

"Fine" Cameron said as he held his hands up in mock surrender and smiled.

As Peri went to put the film in Cameron's phone began to blare out so he took it out of his pocket and looked at it.

**Caller Unknown...**

"Is that Mum?" Peri asked.

"Don't know, it's unknown" he replied before pressing accept and holding the phone to his ear "Hello"

"Cameron, it's me" Leela's voice said on the other end "My phone's flat but look I'm at the hospital, there's been an accident at wor..."

"Leela? Leela, can you hear me?" he asked into the phone as it began to break up.

"Ca... ... ...love... u..." the phone went dead then so he hung up and jumped from the couch

"What is it?" Peri questioned as she noticed her Dad's reaction.

"We need to go" he said as he moved to the door.

"Why?" Peri questioned, although she quickly started moving too "What happened?"

"There's been an accident" he told her as he opened the door and walked out of it closely followed by Peri.

"Is Mum okay? She's not hurt is she?" Peri asked worriedly.

"I don't know Pez" he answered as he carried on walking.

"Where is she?" she questioned.

"Hospital, come on" he said.

"Shouldn't we tell Ste?" she asked.

"No not now, now just come on, please" he said in a raised voice as he worried Leela may be hurt.


	16. Chapter 16

Walking into the hospital Cameron saw Leela who looked slightly anxious.

"Oh my god" Leela muttered as she spotted Cameron and rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him.

"I was so worried I thought you were hurt" Cameron told her as he pulled back from the hug and looked at her as if to make sure she was really okay.

"I'm fine" Leela whispered "I'm so sorry, I tried to tell you I was okay but my phone went flat then I used the hospital phone which was rubbish" she told him "I'm sorry for worrying you"

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay" he told her before leaning in and kissing her.

Peri walked into the hospital and smiled in relief as she saw her Mum was unharmed "Get a room" she said as she rolled her eyes at her parents who where in a very heated kiss.

Leela and Cameron pulled apart as they looked at Peri and smiled.

"So what happened?" Cameron asked.

"We were on a job and the building collapsed right on top of him, it was awful, it should have been me but he saved me, I just..." Leela told him as she began crying "It should have been me but instead it was Mark, you know the one, he's got 3 kids and a wife, he's in a bad way, what if he dies?" she sobbed as she blamed herself for what happened.

"It's not your fault babe, no one could have known the building was going to come down" Cameron tried to reassure her.

"I knew, but I still went in, I thought I would be alright and now I risked my colleague, there was a little girl trapped inside and she couldn't get out so I went in to get her, I could see it wasn't safe but I still went in" she cried "I got the little girl out" she smiled briefly when she said this.

"See, you were doing your job, you saved that little girl right?"

Leela nodded weakly before falling into Cameron's side "It should have been me" she breathed into his neck.

"And what would me and Peri do ey?" Cameron asked as he gently pushed her away so he could look into her eyes "We need you" he told her as he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

Leela looked at him for a moment before looking to where Peri was; she was extremely quiet and had hardly said a word.

"Are you alright?" Leela asked her.

"Yeah" she replied in a whisper as she walked over to her Mum and gave her a hug "I love you Mum"

A single tear fall down Leela's cheek as she heard what her daughter said "Love you more" she replied as she pulled back and smiled at her.

"Not possible" Peri replied as she smiled back.

"Yes possible" Leela replied before they began walking to the exit.

...

The small family off three arrived home after stopping at McDonald's thanks to the constant begs from Peri.

As soon as they walked through the door Ste jumped on Leela, pulling her into a hug "Are you okay? Peri text me, said you were at the hospital"

"I'm fine" Leela assured him as she sighed, looking at the empty DVD case on the sofa she turned to Peri "Frozen?" she questioned with a smile.

"Yeah, remember when we went to the cinema to see it?" Peri asked.

"How could I forget, we made a day of it and I let you get your belly button pieced, Mum was not happy" Leela laughed fondly at the memory.

"Yep" Peri grinned "I love it" she said referring to her belly bar.

"Well I thought you were old enough and you seemed really sure so I thought why not" Leela told her with a smile.

"So how about that film?" Leela asked.

"Actually do you mind if we watch it some other time? I think I'm gonna go call Tom" Peri said.

Leela nodded as she watched her daughter run upstairs seeming much happier now then she was this morning.

"She's happy" Leela said once she had disappeared.

"Yeah, I worked my magic" Cameron told her.

"Who know she would be such a daddy's girl" Leela teased as she walked over to him and wrapped herself in his arms "She was always such a mummy's girl growing up, I used to wish it was me she wanted but it wasn't" she said sadly.

Cameron didn't reply to this as the thought of his little girl calling Sam mummy made his blood boil; he did not like Sam one bit, even now as she was died he still hated her.

"So what do you want to do now?" Leela asked him as she pulled out of his warm embrace.

Cameron grinned down at her and she just rolled her eyes "Something that doesn't involve taking our clothes off" she warned light-heartedly.

"Who said anything about taking our clothes off" Cameron said as he looked mischievously at her.

"Can't we just lie on the settee, I'm actually really exhausted"

"Of course babe" Cameron told her as he left a lingering kiss on her soft lips "You know I'm not just with you for the sex, although that's great, I mean really great, mind-blowing"

"Just shut up Cameron" she said light-heartedly as she put her finger to his lips so he wouldn't talk anymore.

Cameron smiled against her finger before biting at it playfully causing her to quickly more it.

...

Cameron and Leela lay on the sofa just talking about mindless things as they just wanted to forget about the world; forget about the fact their daughter might not be okay, just for a bit they wanted to pretend everything was okay and they could be happy for once.

Leela lay with her head resting on Cameron's chest as she played absentmindedly with his fingers, finally she entwined their hands together and sighed contently as she thought about how much she missed just being with Cameron.

"I've miss this" she said.

"What?" Cameron asked as their hands lay entwined on her stomach and his other hand played with a stand of her soft blonde hair.

"This" she twisted her body around so she could look at him "Just being with you like this, it's nice"

"Hmm" he agreed as he dipped his head and placed a chaste kiss on her lips "Me too"

* * *

**I added a quote from a US drama show in the first paragrapgh, anyone guess the show?**


	17. Chapter 17

Peri came rushing down the stairs saying she was going to see Tom.

"Pez" Leela called as she watched her rush past them "What are you wearing?" she questioned as she looked at her daughter.

"Clothes" Peri answered back, rolling her eyes.

Cameron gave her a look causing her to huff "I'm just going to see Tom, where's the harm in that?"

"You look like..." Leela paused as she just looked at what her fourteen year old daughter was wearing.

"What? What do I look like?" Peri shouted.

"Just put something more appropriate on, you're fourteen"

"God, I'm not going to come home pregnant" Peri shouted at her Mum.

"Less of the attitude Peri" Cameron said causing her to scoff and storm off.

"What has gotten into her?" Leela asked as the front door slammed shut.

"I guess these are the mood swings they say about" Cameron said referring to the tumor.

"You don't think..." Leela trailed off as she looked up at Cameron.

"No, she's not us, she's a smart kid, she won't be that stupid" Cameron said, understanding what she was getting at.

...

Peri stood outside the door to the flat as she took a deep breath; she needed to do this, she needed to tell Tom about the brain tumour.

Raising her hand she knocked gently on the door and waited for someone to answer.

As she was waiting she became nervous of his reaction; _would he want a girlfriend who wasn't perfect? Will he want someone who might not be well enough to do the normal things teenagers do? _She thought all of these things as she waited for the door to open.

"Hi" Tom said as he opened the door.

"Hi" Peri said as she smiled "Can I come in then?" she asked as Tom stood holding the door open but made no move to move out-of-the-way.

"Course" he said as he moved to the side so she could get past him "You look amazing" he told her as he looked at what she was wearing.

"Thanks" she smiled "Can we go to your room?"

"Sure" he said as he closed the door and followed her to his room.

They both walked into his room and he shut the door behind them.

Peri stood in the middle ofthe room looking unsure as Tom sat on the bed.

"What's up?" he asked.

She walked over to his bed and sat down "You know when I had my brain tumour? Well..." she said before he cut her off.

"Yeah, they got rid of it" he smiled as he leant in to kiss her but she pulled back slightly causing him to look confused.

"They did remove it" she stated with a sad smile "But it's back"

"Wh..What do you mean it... it's back? he stuttered.

"The tumour's back" she told him.

"But they can remove it right?" he asked her.

"No" she simply said as she watched for his reaction.

"They have to" he said as he put his hand over hers "What do you mean they can't?"

"They just can't Tom" she said as she pulled her hand out of his touch "It's in the wrong place or something, I don't know but it's not as simple as last time" she explained "They gave me some tablets and they should help but they don't know"

He slowly put his arm around her and pulled her to him "It's okay" he whispered to her before hugging her close.

"You're not going to break up with me?" she asked as she hugged him back.

"No" he said before pulling back and looking at her "Peri I'm not just going to leave you"

"But I might not get better" she whispered.

"Peri, I love you know matter what" he reassured her "And I'm here for you whatever happens, I wound never leave you"

She smiled before telling him how much she loved him.

There was silence for a minute before he spoke again "So how are you feeling?"

"Well I've got a headache but I'm use to them now, it comes with the tumour I guess" she shrugged, trying to pretend like she didn't care.

He pulled her to him and put his arms around her, embracing her as she began to cry softly to herself.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours as Peri's body shook from her tears.

"Tom..." Jack said as he entered the room "Peri, I didn't know you were here"

She pulled away from Tom and smiled the best she could at him "Hi Jack"

"Are you okay?" he questioned her.

"I will be" she said as she looked at Tom and smiled affectionately at him.

"Okay, me and Frankie are of to the cash-and-carry, Nancy's downstairs if you need anything" he said looked at Tom "See you later, bye Peri" he added before shutting the door and leaving them alone again.

"So what do you want to do?" Tom questioned but before she could answer the door opened and Charlie walked in.

"Hi Peri" he said, smiling widely at her.

"Hey Charlie" she said as she smiled back at him; she loved Charlie, he was so cute and funny.

"Tom, can you play with me? I'm bored" Charlie whined.

"Charlie, I'm with P..." Tom started to say but Peri stopped him.

"Of course we can, we'd love to play with you" Peri said sweetly as she smiled at Charlie causing Tom to roll his eyes.

"Oh come on Tom, he's 8, don't be jealous" she teased before getting off the bed.

...

Peri made her way back from Tom's after they had spent the time chatting, playing with Charlie and fooling about; they had been dating for a couple of months now and they both loved each other so they were getting a bit more daring when it came to their relationship, although they still felt awkward sometimes.

She walked across the village and made her way up the steps.

"I'm back" she said as she walked into the house to see it empty.

She sighed and walked into the kitchen to get herself a drink before flicking the television on and throwing herself down on the couch.

"You're back" Leela said as she made her way downstairs.

"Looks like it" Peri said, not even bothering to look up at her.

"Peri" Leela suddenly said loudly before walking over to her and standing in front of the television screen.

"What?" Peri sighed as she finally looked up at her mum.

"What is that?" she questioned making Peri look at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Peri rolled her eyes.

"That" Leela pointed to the mark on her neck causing Peri's hand to shoot up to her neck and understand what she was going on about.

"Oh, that" Peri said with a smirk as she thought back to her afternoon.

"Peri, just be careful yeah, don't make the same mistakes I did" Leela warned before walking off.

* * *

**Reviews make me want to update quicker, plus i need to know if this is good or just rubbish, so please leave a review :) remember this story has got ziggy/leela in as well as cameron/leela and while cameron and leela are together it doesn't mean i won't still write some leela and ziggy bc i will. The title 'how long will i love you' its kinda a theme to the story, how long will peri love tom? how long will leela love cameron? how long will she love ziggy? how long have cameron and leela got left to love their daughter? this story includes a lot of love; different kinds of love.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

"YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND" a voice shouted as they stormed up to Leela in the middle of the village.

Looking up Leela saw a woman, maybe in her thirties, coming towards her with tears streaming down her face.

"What?" Leela asked.

"My husband, Mark, he's dead" she screamed.

"What? You're Mark's wife?" Leela asked in shock.

"Yes and now he's dead because of you" she shouted before letting out a pained cry.

"I'm so sorry" Leela whispered "I'm so so sorry" she was on the verge of tears as she spoke.

"You're sorry" the woman let out a humorous laugh "It's not going to bring my husband back though" she yelled "How do you explain to a three year old that her daddy isn't coming back?"

"I'm sorry" Leela said again as tears ran down her face.

"He would have never been in that building if it weren't for you" she spat in pure anger.

"I know" Leela whispered as the reality of her mistake hit her "I was stupid but I was saving a little girl, I couldn't let her die"

"No, but you let my husband die" she shouted as the tears rolled down her cheeks like a water fountain "You knew it wasn't safe, you should have waited, you know you should have and now my husband's gone"

Leela trying to hug the distraught woman but she struggled "Don't touch me, it should have been you" she spat as Leela tried to offer her some kind of comfort.

"No" the woman yelled before backhanding Leela hard across the face "You don't get to try and make me feel better because nothing will make it better, ever" she said as the force of the blow sent Leela to the floor and she held her cheek as it stung in pain.

"As far as I'm concerned you killed him" she said as she looked at Leela on the floor "I hope someday you feel this pain, until then you won't have any idea what I'm going through"

_I know _Leela thought to herself as she just looked at the distraught woman in front of her.

"Mummy" came a soft voice causing Leela to look past her and see a little girl who couldn't be more than three holding hands with a taller boy.

"Jordon I told you to wait with her in the car" the woman yelled as she walked over to them and picked the young girl up.

"Mummy, when's daddy coming home?" the girl asked with innocence causing her mum to glare at Leela in disgust before quickly leaving with her children.

Leela started vacantly after them as she cried softly to herself before someone put their hand on her shoulder causing her to jump slightly.

"Lee, what happened?" Ziggy spoke as he helped her up "Are you alright?" he questioned as he saw the faint markings of a forming bruise on her cheek.

She just looked blankly at him before falling into the safety of his arms.

As he wrapped his arms around her he could feel her shaking as she sobbed quietly into his shirt.

"Is it Peri? Has something happened?" he asked as he stroked her hair soothingly.

Pulling away from him she looked up with tears running down her cheeks and shook her head "Peri's fine" she told him before more tears escaped her eyes, _well as fine as someone with a brain tumour can be _she thought to herself.

"What is it?" he whispered "Who did this to you?" he asked as he lightly touched her cheek where to forming bruise was.

"I killed him, he's dead because of me" she let out a strangled sob.

"Who? Killed who?" he questioned as he watched her in concern.

"Mark" she said before dissolving into tears again "I k...killed him" she hiccupped as she couldn't stop her tears from falling.

"Come here" he said as he pulled her into him and just held her, letting her cry.

As her tears eventually slowed she pulled back and looked at him with caution.

"How about we go for a drink and you can tell me what happened?" he questioned carefully.

"I don't know" she said as she watched him closely.

"Looks like you could use a friend" he said with a warm smile as his eyes shone at her; _maybe it's not a good idea to go for a drink with someone who is still in love with you _she thought to herself...

Although she did need a friend right now.

"Do you want to come to mine?" she finally asked "It's empty"

...

"So what happened?" Ziggy asked as Leela came to sit beside him.

She didn't know where to start as she started crying again, she shook her head from side to side as she thought of what she had done "It's all my fault" she whispered before looking up at him.

"We were on a job..." she trailed off as she struggled to speak without breaking into a stream of tears "And I, I... I went in and it, it just came down, it was meant to be me but he, he saved me"

"Mark?" he questioned and she just nodded "She blames me and she's right, I killed him, I killed him Ziggy" she cried and cried as he watched her; he wanted so much to stop her pain because he loved her; he let her go so she could be happy with a man she 100% loved and he accepted that man wasn't him.

"Don't cry" he said causing her to meet his eyes; her eyes softened as their eyes fixed on each other "I hate seeing you cry" he told her as he reached out to wipe her tears away "You're so beautiful"

She shook her head "I killed a man, I'm the reason his kids will grow up..." she trailed off as she choked on her tears.

Trying her best to compose herself she went on "I knew it wasn't safe but I still went in, we were told to wait but I didn't listen, I just went in..."

"I know you" he said "And you wouldn't do anything without a reason, you would have had a damn good reason to go in"

"But I should have waited, I should have listened and now, now my colleagues dead because of me" she told him as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What's done is done" he said after a moment causing Leela to look up "You can't change it" he continued "Stop beating yourself up over it, you didn't go in there on purpose, you may have seen the building was unsafe but you weren't to know it was going to come down on you" he told her "You weren't to know he was going to come in after you, he made that decision and he must have known it was a risk"

"But he wouldn't have had to take that risk if it weren't for me" she argued.

"Maybe not babe but you can't change it now" he whispered "Please don't blame yourself"

She watched him for a moment before leaning forward and hugging him "Thank you" she whispered "You always believe in me" she told him before slowly pulling away.

She lingered for a second as she looked at his lips before taking them in her own and kissing him softly.

"Leela, what are you doing?" he questioned as he pushed her away.

"Sorry" she mumbled before quickly getting up.

Grabbing her arm he stopped her from walking away and stood up, leaning forward he placed a tender kiss to her forehead "I love you Leela, you know I do and I'd do anything for you but..."

"I know, I shouldn't have done that, I was upset and you were being so nice to me..." suddenly she was cut off by a pair of warm lips on top of hers as he kissed her.

She kissed him back.

They were too busy kissing to notice the door open.

"What are you doing?" came a voice causing them to pull apart and look at the person who had caught them.


	19. Chapter 19

"How could you" the person spoke.

"Peri, it's not what it looks like" Leela told her daughter as her and Tom stood at the door staring at her.

"Really, so you weren't just kissing your ex?" Peri asked in disbelief.

"Well, yes" Leela sighed "Look Peri, just please don't tell your Dad? It was stupid"

"What would have happened if we hadn't walked in?" Peri asked as she looked at her Mum in disgust "How could you do this to Dad, he loves you"

"Peri please..." Leela began to say as she walked over to her daughter "Don't touch me" Peri said "I hate you, you don't deserve Dad" she shouted.

"I'm just going to go" Ziggy spoke up causing Leela to glare at him.

"Yeah you just go and leave my family alone, I actually thought you were alright but you're not, you're just like the rest of them" Peri shouted at Ziggy.

"Look Peri I'm sorry" Ziggy said.

Suddenly Peri's nose began to bleed heavily and blood covered her clothes in seconds.

"Peri" Tom called as he put his hand on her and tried to help her.

Ziggy rushed forward and quickly tried to help Peri but she shook him off "Peri, let me help you" he said before telling her to pinch her nose and lean forward.

"What's happening?" Peri asked as she saw all the blood "I've never had a nosebleed, is something wrong?" she asked before looking up at her Mum who just looked back in concern.

"It should stop soon" Ziggy told her "Joe used to have them all the time as a kid and look at him now, you're going to be just fine Peri.

"There's so much blood" Tom said as he watched his girlfriend in concern; the blood wasn't showing any sign of stopping.

"Where's Dad?" Peri asked as she still held her nose trying to get it to stop.

"He should be back by now, I'll call him" Leela said before grabbing her phone from the couch and dialling his number.

"Why isn't it stopping?" Peri asked Ziggy.

"It will" he reassured her with a small smile.

"He's not answering" Leela said as she walked back over to them.

"Ziggy" she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Peri and Tom so she could speak to him alone.

"There's so much blood and it's not stopping, do you think we should take her to hospital?"

Ziggy just looked back at Peri who was still trying to stop the blood flowing from her nose.

"It might be something to do with her brain tumour" Leela told him "It's back"

"I know" Ziggy confirmed.

"She told you?" Leela asked in suprise as she hadn't mentioned that it was back to him.

"Yeah" he said as he looked at Peri who had started panicking.

"It's the tumour isn't it?" Peri questioned.

"I don't know but something isn't right" Leela said as she made her way back to her daughter "We need to get you to the hospital, it should have stopped by now" Ziggy added.

Leela grabbed a cloth from the table and handed it to Peri "Try this" she said as Peri took it but within seconds the cloth was covered in blood.

Leela decided to try Cameron again to see where he was as they all left the house.

"Tom, stay we me" Peri said anxiously as she blindly grabbed his hand.

"Of course" he said as he looked at Leela who was trying to get through to Cameron.

"Why isn't he answering?" Leela asked no one in particular as they continued walking.

...

As they waited at the hospital Peri started coughing loudly.

"Peri?" Tom asked in concern as Leela's head shot to her daughter.

Suddenly she coughed up some blood "Mum, what's happening to me?" she asked on the verge of tears.

"I don't know baby but we will find out" Leela said as she called for someone to help them.

As a nurse came over she led Peri to a cubicle while trying to stop her nose bleeding.

"Hold that there" the nurse told Peri as she opened the curtains to an empty cubical and helped her on the bed.

"Is she going to be okay?" Leela asked as Ziggy followed them into the cubical.

Just then a Doctor walked into the room and pulled the curtains shut "Right Peri, let's see if we can stop this bleeding"

The Doctor tipped Peri's head back and looked at her nose before deciding what needed doing but before he had the chance to do anything else she started seizuring.

Leela tried to rush forward but the Doctor held her back "Lay her flat" he called to the nurse as he pressed the buzzer on the wall to get more help.

"She's not stopping" the nurse called as she held Peri's head and arms.

"Miss Lomax your daughter is having a seizure, we need to stabiliser her so we can see what's going on inside..."

"You think it's the tumour?"

"We will know more once she's had an MRI" the Doctor told her.

"She stopped" the nurse shouted.

"Mum" Peri said weakly.

"I'm here" Leela said as she moved to her side and took her hand "They're taking you for a scan shortly so they can see what's wrong?"

"It's my brain tumour isn't it?" she asked as she began to cry.

Leela nodded weakly as she let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.

"We need to take her now" the Doctor said and they began wheeling her away.

Leela watched her go before her phone started ringing, seeing it was Cameron she answered it...

"Cameron, just get to the hospital now" she said before hanging up and falling into Ziggy's arms.

"It's bad isn't it?" she said through her tears "Ziggy what am I going to do?"

"We need to wait until we know for sure" Ziggy whispered as he hugged her and kissed the top of her head.


	20. Chapter 20

Cameron got to the hospital and quickly found Leela, as he went to approach her he stopped short as he saw her wrapped up in Ziggy's arms; he felt anger boiling up inside him as he watched the way he was touching her; his girl.

Shaking away the anger he moved forward "Leela" he called as he rushed up to her and quickly took her from Ziggy's arms into his own "I'm here now"

"Cam, I was so scared, she started fitting..." Leela crying into his shirt "They've taken her for a scan" she mumbled as she continued to cry.

"Shh, I'm here now" he tried to comfort her but he was as worried as she was as he caressed her hair in a calming manner while glaring at Ziggy.

"Your daughter is back now if you'd like to go and see her" a Doctor told Leela.

Pulling out of Cameron's embrace she rushed to her daughter's cubical and as soon as she saw her she rushed over hugged her tightly.

"The Doctor said he will be back to discuss my results with you soon" Peri mumbled as her Mum hugged her a bit too forcefully.

"Where's Dad?" she asked causing Leela to look around "He was right behind me" she frowned as she walked to the end of the cubical.

Seeing Cameron and Ziggy standing just outside the cubical she grimaced as they looked to be having some sort of heated disagreement.

"Leela's my girl, stay away from her" Cameron warned as he walked away from Ziggy and into the cubical looking extremely irritated.

"Right, I've got your results" the Doctor said as he entered the room and drew the curtains behind him so that they could have some privacy.

The Doctor looked at the two parents "It's bad isn't it? Leela asked as she took her daughters hand and tried to prepare herself for the news.

"Mr Campbell, Miss Lomax..." he trailed off.

"Just tell us?" Peri said from her bed.

"Okay" the Doctor sighed before looking at her file which was in his hands "It's not the news we were hoping for"

"What does that mean?" Peri asked quietly.

"I'm sorry but your tumour has grown"

"What?" Leela asked in devastation "So what can you do now? You can fix it right?"

"The good news is it's only grown a small amount so for now we monitor it, we want to keep Peri in for a couple of days so we can monitor the progress of it and measure how much it's growing" the Doctor said as he looked at all three people in the room "This will help us to decide the next step"

"Can you treat it?" Cameron spoke for the first time since hearing the news.

"We will know more after we're monitored it but I think the medication I gave your daughter last time was helping to some extent so we will continue with that for the time being"

"So what now? We just wait?" Leela asked as she couldn't understand why they couldn't just help her daughter.

"Yes, that's all we can do for now"

"What about surgery, can't you just remove it?"

"It's not that simple, as I told you before it's in a very tricky place and now it's grown it's even more risky to operate, but monitoring it will help us to way up the risks and decide what to do next"

Suddenly Peri spoke "Where's Tom?" she remembered he came with them to the hospital but she hadn't seen him since the nurse brought her to the cubical.

"I think he went to the shop" Leela told her "He has been gone for a while though"

"If you haven't got anymore questions I'm going to leave you alone" the Doctor said before leaving the cubical, pulling the curtains shut again once he had left.

Cameron watched his daughter as she frowned slightly.

"I'll go look for Tom for you" he offered with a small smile.

Peri smiled at this and Cameron left in search of Tom.

"I'll be right back" Leela told her daughter before following Cameron out of the cubical.

They walked down the corridor for a bit before Leela stopped him "Where were you? I tried calling you"

"I was out of signal" he explained.

"Where were you to make your phone lose signal?" she questioned "I needed you, we needed you"

"I'm here now" he said "Beside you had Ziggy" he told her harshly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leela snapped.

"Just that you two seemed pretty cosy when I arrived" he said as he clenched his fists in anger.

"You weren't here" Leela shouted.

"And he was" he finished as he looked at her accusingly.

"Yes he was, he was here for me when you weren't, he was there for me when I found out Mark died" she told him in irritation.

"So you're angry with me for being out? Excuse me for having a life" he shouted causing he to plant an almighty slap across his cheek "I'm not angry at you for being out, I'm angry at you for being such an ass" she snapped.

"He still loves you Leela, he had his hands all over you" he said matter-of-factly.

"He was comforting me" she told him in aggravation "I. love. You. Cameron" she said, emphasising each word, needing him to understand that it was him she loved not Ziggy.

"Do you?" he questioned.

"Of course I do" she said in disbelief "How can you even ask that?"

There was silence as they both looked at each other daring the other to speak.

"Look I can't do this now" she sighed "Just go and find Tom, I need to be with our daughter"

He watched as she stormed off, feeling his anger fade slightly; he didn't mean to get angry but he couldn't stand the thought of Ziggy trying to steal his girl.

...

"What's wrong?" Peri asked as she noticed he Mum's red teary eyes.

"I'm fine" Leela said weakly before offering her daughter a smile "Don't worry about me, you just get better"

There was silence for a moment before Peri spoke again "I'm not going to tell him" she whispered causing Leela to look confused "Dad, I'm not going to tell him about you and Ziggy"

"Thank you" Leela breathed.

"But you promise it was only once?"

Leela nodded slowly "And it won't happen again?"

"It won't happen again, I promise" Leela told her.

"Good"

* * *

**Please just bear with me, I have some much I want to include and sometimes I get muddled with how to write it all bujt im getting there, I think haha, anyway I have the next two chapters written and waying. I might post one or maybe both later tonight, depends.**

**Also, I want to thank my readers and reviewers bc it means the world to me it really does :)**


	21. Chapter 21

"Hey, look who I found" Cameron said as he popped his head through the curtains of Peri's cubical.

"Tom" Peri smiled happily.

"I got you something" he said as he walked over to Peri's bedside.

"What is it?" Peri asked excitedly.

Tom just stood smiling at her before pulling something out from behind his back.

A fluffy white bear holding a single red rose appeared in front of her eyes.

She smiled and took it from him as she noticed the words on each foot "I love it"

"I also got your favourite sweets" he said as he placed a bag on strawberry bonbons on her laps.

"Aww thanks" Peri said as she placed the bear on her bedside table and took a bonbon from the bag.

"What took you so long anyway?" she asked as she had a mouthful of bonbon.

"Well I went to the shop" he said then he shyly admitted that he got lost on the way back.

"Aww, you're too cute" Peri teased.

...

Leela and Cameron decided to leave Tom and Peri alone for a while so they both sat in the waiting room as they worried about their daughter.

Leela wasn't speaking to Cameron as she couldn't believe he would even question her love for him, after everything they had been through and he doubted her.

"Leela, speak to me please?" Cameron begged.

"What do you want me to say?" Leela snapped.

"You're mad at me" he stated "Look whatever I've done I'm sorry"

"Oh whatever Cameron, I can't do this now, our daughter is in there" she pointed to the cubical "god knows what's going to happen and here you are acting all jealous over something so stupid"

"Stupid, he's your ex Leela, of course I'm going to be jealous when I find him all over you" he snapped as he stood up.

"He was being a friend, that's it, god" Leela sighed in frustration "I chose you didn't I?"

"Did you?" Cameron asked bitterly.

"Maybe I wouldn't have if knew what a possessive control freak you were" Leela spat in anger but as soon as the words came out she knew she had gone too far; I mean maybe he was right to be jealous, she had practically cheated on him with Ziggy, but then she had cheated on Ziggy with Cameron too, it was all just such a mess.

"I didn't mean that" she said in a rush as she saw him start to walk away.

"Cameron" she called after him but he just turned around and told her to go to their daughter.

"Where are you going?" she shouted but he was already gone.

Walking over to Peri's cubical she found Tom and Peri kissing so she coughed slightly to get their attention.

"Hey" Peri said as she pulled away from Tom and gave her Mum a shy smile "Nancy and Darren are coming to pick Tom up"

"Peri, I can stay..." Tom began but Peri cut him off "No Tom, you should just go home, I'll be fine, and it's getting late anyway" she told him.

"It's only 6" he argued.

"Exactly, school starts tomorrow so you can't stay here all night"

"She's right Tom" Leela said from where she stood at the end of the bed.

Tom looked as if he was going to protest "Look I'll let you know if anything happens" Leela promised as he knew how much the young boy cared about Peri.

"Okay" Tom said before quickly hugging Peri and going to leave.

"Love you" Peri called.

"Love you too" Tom smiled back causing her to grin widely as she watched him go.

"Where's Dad?" she asked after a moment as Leela walked to the side of her bed and sat on the chair there.

"Don't know" Leela frowned "We had a stupid argument and he walked off, I don't know where he is" she told her daughter "But I'm sure he'll be back soon" she added as she forced a smile.

"What were you arguing about?" Peri asked.

"He's jealous of me and Ziggy" Leela sighed "But he has no reason to be"

"Doesn't he?" Peri questioned her Mum.

"No, of course not, I love your Dad Peri" she assured her.

"But I did walk in on you kissing him" Peri stated.

"That was a mistake, I told you, your Dad has no reason to be jealous"

"If you say so" Peri mumbled before lying back in her hospital bed.

"So, how are you feeling?" Leela asked as she looked at her daughter's frustrated face.

She shrugged as she looked at her Mum "How am I suppose to feel?" she questioned sadly "I'm scared, I don't know what's going to happen, I don't even think the doctors know" she admitted as a single tear rolled down her cheek "They can't help me, it's just going to get bigger and bigger until it's too late" she cried hysterically.

Leela shot to her daughter's side and hugged her as closely as possible as she just cried.

"No" Leela pulled away and made her daughter look at her "You listen to me, they are going to get you better, your going to get better Peri"

"I wish I could believe that" Peri sobbed before Leela pulled her into her warm embrace once more and caressed her hair gently trying to offer her some comfort.

...

"We got here as quickly as we could" Ste said as he rushed up to his sister, Tegan closely behind.

"How is she?" Tegan asked.

"She cried herself to sleep" Leela whispered as she went to hug her sister but she noticed two little people that she didn't see before.

"What are they doing here?" she asked as she looked towards the vending machine where Leah and Lucas were.

"Oh, Amy dumped them on me" Ste said as he watched his kids "But I'm not complaining, more time with my kids init" he said as he looked back at Leela "Come here" he said as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

"Where's Cameron?" Tegan asked as she watched her brother and sister.

"I don't know and I don't care, all I care about is my daughter and getting her better" Leela stated as she pulled back from her brother and looked at Tegan.

"You're had an argument" Tegan said.

"Why does everyone think that?" Leela said in frustration "Look I'm going to sit with Peri, you two do what you like"

"Believe me it's not pretty when those two have an argument" Tegan mumbled before following her sister.


	22. Chapter 22

Tegan, Ste and the kids were visiting Peri, and Tom had left while Leela made her way outside of the hospital to get a bit of fresh air; she was so worried about her daughter, she had no idea what was going to happen and it scared her.

Cameron was still somewhere around the hospital, all moody no doubt, that was one of the many things Leela loved to hate about Cameron; he was so moody when things didn't go his way.

Walking outside Leela saw him knelt on the ground leaning against a wall so she made her way over to him and knelt down beside him causing him to look up.

"Hey" he said.

"What are you still doing here Zig?" she sighed as she looked at him with soft eyes.

"Just thinking" he told her before asking how Peri was.

"I don't know, they can't really tell us much" she told him.

"I'm sorry" he told her causing her to give him a faint smile "Why are you sorry?"

"I don't know, for kissing you, even if I did want it I should have never kissed you, I broke up with you" he said.

"It's okay, it was a mistake" she told him causing him to frown "Ziggy you will always have a special place in my heart, you know that right?"

"Yeah" he sighed as a silence fell between them.

"Anyway I kissed you first" Leela said, breaking the slightly awkward silence "I saw you and Cameron earlier"

"Yeah, he told me to stay away from you" Ziggy told her.

"He doesn't owe me Ziggy and I don't want to stay away from you" she told him firmly causing him to look at her.

"I don't want to stay away from you either, I still love you Leela, I should never have dumped you, I should have fought for you, I didn't think I stood a chance" he said as he watched her face intently "Maybe I didn't" he added "But I would have tried"

"Ziggy..." she whispered "I'm with Cameron now" she watched him for a minute before going to stand up.

"I know, however much I hate it, I know and it kills me but I want you to be happy" he told her sadly and he stood up too "But I can't stop loving you Leela, I've tried"

"I love you Ziggy Roscoe" she said as she pulled him in for a hug "But I'm not in love with you anymore"

"Oi, get your hands off her" came a loud Scottish voice causing them to break apart.

Cameron stormed up to them and the look he was giving Ziggy made Leela feel uneasy so she put her body in-between them and placed her hands on Cameron's chest as she told him to calm down.

"Look mate we were just hugging, you can't stop us from seeing each other" Ziggy told Cameron as Leela left go off him and gave him a look that told him to back off.

"Wanna bet?" Cameron spat.

"We're always going to have a connection and you can't do anything about that" Ziggy shouted as Cameron just stared angrily at him "It really gets to you doesn't it, that she actually likes spending time with me"

Leela looked at Ziggy silently pleading with him to stop talking but he was too wound up by Cameron now so he continued "I really don't know what she ever saw in you, she could do so much better"

"What with you, you mean? Nah mate, she ain't interested no more" Cameron sneered "She. Doesn't. Love. You" he told him emphasising each word.

"Really? Is that why she kissed me?" Ziggy spat without thinking but as soon as he looked at Leela's face he wished he hadn't said it.

"What?" Cameron asked before turning to Leela and looking for her reaction.

"Cam" she breathed as she grabbed his hands but he shook her off in anger "Is it true?"

"I'm sorry" she begged as he looked at her before walking away.

"What did you do that for?" Leela shouted.

"I'm sorry, he just makes me so angry" Ziggy said.

"Just go Ziggy" she said as he stood there watching her "Please just go"

"I hope Peri gets better soon" he said before walking away from the hospital leaving Leela stood there alone as it began to rain.

...

"Where's Peri?" Leela asked as she walked through the curtains of her daughter's cubical.

"I don't know, she said she wanted to rest so we went..." Ste started but Leela cut him off.

"So she ran off" Leela concluded with a loud sigh as she went to leave.

"Where are you going?" Ste asked as she was halfway out the cubical.

"I'm going to find my daughter" she snapped before storming off leaving Ste and Tegan shocked.

"It's not our fault" Tegan said to Ste causing him to shrug.

"Daddy, is Auntie Leela okay?" Leah asked from where she sat on the bed.

"She's just worried about Peri, we all are" Ste assured her.

Meanwhile Peri said down an empty corridor in a secluded part of the hospital by herself as she thought about everything; learning she had a brother she never knew, but then he was actually her uncle, losing her 'parents', finding out Leela was her real Mum, bonding with her Dad, officially getting together with Tom and how they had nearly slept together; as she sat alone she held the teddy bear Tom had given her in her hands, hugging it close to her chest.

Hearing footsteps approaching her she looked up to see who it was and a smile came to her lips as she saw the person that stood in front of her.

"What you doing here kiddo?" Cameron asked as he sat down beside her.

"Just thinking" she shrugged "Tegan and Ste were crowding me, I just wanted to be alone"

Cameron nodded at this "What you thinking about?"

"Everything" she admitted as she looked up at her Dad "What's going to happen?"

"I don't know baby, I wish I did" he said as he put his arm around her and pulled her into his side "But whatever happens we're here for you" he kissed the side of her head "I'm here for you"

"Sometimes I think how life could have been?" she said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he looked at her.

"I mean if you and Mum raised me and I grew up with you" she said "But I've only known you for a few months" she added in a whisper.

"I know, I think about it sometimes but we're together now, we're a family" she smiled at this as he continued "We will have so much more time together, I promise you"

She went quiet as she contemplated her Dad's words "Pez, what's wrong?" he asked as he took her hands in his and smiled warmly at her "What if..." she started before stopping and staring at her him.

"What if..." he whispered as he looked at her, silently encouraging her to continue.

"What if we don't...? What if we don't have more time?" she asked as her voice faded.

"Peri, you're going to get better, I know you are" he told her as he pulled her further against him and hugged her "You have to because we need our little Peri Winkle don't we?" he added light-heartedly as he tried to raise her spirits but it was hard because he didn't know for sure what was going to happen either "What would we all do without you ey? You're the only sane one out of us all"

She laughed a little at this before looking up and smiling "Thanks"

"What for?" he asked as he looked at her and moved a bit of hair from in front of her eyes.

"For being here" she said causing him to smile "You're my daughter, I'll always be here" he assured her.

"Right, should we go back?" he stood up and held his hand out for her to take "It's getting late and visiting hours end soon" she froze when he said this and looked at him with scared eyes.

"Hey, you'll be okay, and me and your Mum will be back as soon as opening hours start in the morning" he promised before she took his hand and stood up.

As they started walking Leela spotted them and walked over to them looking overwhelmed "Where have you been?" she asked looking at her daughter.

"I'm fine, I just went for a walk" Peri told her as she rolled her eyes.

Leela tried to calm herself but the truth was not being able to find Peri brought back memories of the day she nearly lost her for good; the day her Mum and Dad nearly took her away from her and all the way the New Zealand.

"She's okay" Cameron calmly reassured her.


	23. Chapter 23

Visiting hours were over and everyone had left the hospital after Peri had practically begged all of them to stay with her, saying she didn't want to stay here alone and why couldn't she just come home.

After 30 minutes Leela, Cameron and Tegan had finally got out of the hospital while Ste had already left with the kids.

They decided to get a Taxi back as it was raining so as the Taxi pulled up Cameron opened the door for Leela but she just walked off and went to sit up front with the driver leaving him and Tegan to sit in the back.

Arriving home 10 minutes late they made their way into the house "Hey" Cameron said to Leah who was sat on the couch "Why aren't you in bed?" he questioned as he saw no sign of Lucas or Ste.

Leah got up from the couch and walked over to her Auntie Leela; she didn't really know Cameron and she was cautious of him.

"Is he being a big meanie?" Leela asked as she picked Leah up who was getting too big to be lifted up now but Leela could see she was wary of Cameron "I let you into a little secret..." she told her niece causing her to lean in closer to her aunt as she loved secrets; she was only seven after all.

"He's a big softie really" Leela whispered to Leah making her giggle "But he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes" she added a bit louder so Cameron could hear, her eyes drifted to Cameron for a second before going back to her niece "Anyway missus, you should be in bed"

"Couldn't sleep" Leah pouted her adorable pout as she looked at her aunt making her roll her eyes "But it's getting late, you need to be in bed like your brother"

"Don't want to" Leah said in a sulky voice.

"Well you got to" Leela replied as she put her niece down "Your Dad wouldn't be very happy if he knew you were still up"

"Fine" she huffed off.

"Come on, how about I read you a story?" Tegan said as she held her hand out for Leah.

"Okay" Leah said before hurrying upstairs.

Leela and Cameron where the only two left downstairs as they stood staring at each other before Leela walked past him and into the kitchen, taking a glass from the cupboard.

"You're mad at me? You're the one who kissed another guy and you're mad at me?" Cameron said as he felt himself getting angry again.

Turning around with the empty glass in her hand she looked at him with a mixture of guilt and anger, as she studied his face her eyes soften slightly "I'm sorry" she whispered "I made one stupid mistake, but you're hardly perfect, yes I kissed him but that's all, remember after the funeral..." she trailed off.

"That is different" he stated as he moved closer to her.

"How is it different? I was with Ziggy then and we slept together"

"So now we're even? Is that what you're saying?" he snapped.

"No, but we did exactly the same thing, we did more, we went behind his back" she said before letting out a loud sigh "I'm not trying to justify me kissing him but I was upset, he was there..."

"So it's my fault for not being there? So are you going to kiss every guy who's there when I'm not?" he spat making her to slam the glass down.

"How dare you? Who do you think I am?" Leela snapped as blood dripped from her finger, looking down she saw that she had broken the glass and it had cut her finger so she grabbed a towel from the side and wrapped it around her finger "Babe..." he said as he saw her bloody finger "No, just leave me alone" she told him as she began walking away.

"Leela, I lost you for 14 years baby, I just don't what to lost you again, I love you so much" he said causing her to stop slightly without looking at him before carrying on up the stairs.

"Don't bother coming to my room tonight" she said as she got halfway upstairs.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he stood staring after her.

Meanwhile at the hospital Peri lay awake as she stared at the blue curtains and white walls around her, holding the teddy bear Tom had given her in her hands she sighed in frustration as she couldn't get to sleep. A Doctor had been to check on her a few minutes ago and had given her some tablets because she was complaining of a headache, but apart from that she was feeling fine, she just wanted to be home and in her own bed.

At the Lomax house Cameron made his way to his bedroom as he looked towards Leela's closed door.

Leela lay in her bed unable to sleep as she looked at a picture of her Mum and Dad; she missed them so much. Looking towards the picture next to it she smiled as she saw her, Peri and Cameron smiling at the Camera.

_Why did I kiss him? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid_ she thought as she lay there looking at the picture of her family; her, Peri and Cameron; she thought they made a pretty awesome family.

Being quiet so she didn't wake anyone else up she made her way out of her room and down the hallway, stopping at Cameron's closed door she opened it softly before slipping inside as she saw him fast asleep, making her way to the side of the bed she got under the covers with him before curling into his side and resting her hand on his bare chest.

Back at the hospital Peri had managed to drift off to sleep but a loud beeping noise woke her with a startle so she sat up in bed, noticing the bear Tom had given her was nowhere to be seen.

She started looking around for it frantically as she needed it; it would keep her safe and the fact it was from Tom; her first and only love, made it even more special.

Spotting it by the curtain she got up and picked it up before getting back into bed and trying to drift back to sleep but she couldn't so she lay there staring up at the ceiling hoping time would pass quickly so that she could she her Mum and Dad again and maybe Tom, but her had school so she wasn't sure if she was going to get to see him or not.


	24. Chapter 24

Cameron woke up to find Leela laying on his chest, her hair was fanned out over her shoulders as she slept peaceful, watching her a small smile came to his lips before he ran a finger down her soft cheek being careful not to wake her, then he quietly got out of bed with a tiny bit of difficulty as he had to peel her body off of his.

Pulling some clothes on he made his way to the bedroom door and took one last look at the sleeping blonde in his bed before leaving the room.

Neither of them could stay mad at the other for long but Leela could also be really stubborn so Cameron had no idea what mood she would be in when she woke up therefore he thought it would be best not to be there when she did.

He got downstairs and saw no one else was down yet, looking at the clock he saw it was nearly 8 o'clock; an hour until visiting time started.

...

Standing outside the hospital in his school uniform he made his way up to the entrance and walking into the hospital making his way to Peri's ward, he tried to remember where she was because he didn't want to get lost again plus he wasn't supposed to be here but he just had to see he before school.

...

"Hey" Leela smiled as she made her way downstairs.

Cameron just looked at her waiting for her to say something about last night but she didn't "So you not going to mention last night?" he questioned.

"What about it?" she asked as she walking around the kitchen trying to find the cereal, finding an empty box she sighed as she slammed the cupboard door shut.

"So you didn't tell me not to come to you room last night? And you didn't sneak into my bed last night? he questioned with a crooked grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she lied as she smiled to herself.

...

At the hospital Tom found his way to where Peri was as he hid out of view from the doctors and nurses before making his way into her cubical.

"Tom" she said happily when she saw him "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come and see you" he said as he walked over to the chair and sat down.

"But it's not visiting hours, you'll get in trouble"

"I've got to go soon anyway, I just wanted to see you before school" he said "So how are you?"

"Well I couldn't sleep, I have the worst headache and I'm freezing but apart from that I'm fine" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Here" Tom held out is jacket "Don't you need that for school? It's fine, I can just ask the nurses for a blanket or something" she told him.

"Take it" he said as he forced it into her hands "God, your hands are freezing"

"I know" she said as she put her arms into the front of his jacket and pulled it around her tightly "Thanks" she mumbled as she smiled weakly at him.

...

At the Lomax house Cameron looked at Leela with a raised eyebrow "So I imagined you did I?"

"Fine" she huffed "I couldn't get to sleep" she made her way to the couch and sat down beside him "And I missed you" she admitted.

Cameron smiled at her "I'm sorry" she whispered "I hate it when we fight"

"Me too" he told her as he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear causing her to recoil slightly as she gasped "What happened?" he questioned softly as he noticed the bruise on her cheek that somehow he had missed before.

"I'm fine, it's nothing" she told him "I deserved it"

"Babe..." he started but she quickly cut him off "Mark died, his wife came and had a go at me then she hit me, then I stupidly kissed Ziggy"

"It's okay baby" he stroked her bruised cheek lightly "Maybe I shouldn't be jealous all the time"

"Maybe you have every right to be" she told him causing him to look questioningly at her "I mean I did kiss Ziggy, and if it weren't for him you wouldn't even know"

"Would you have told me?" he asked curiously.

"It meant nothing" she shrugged "Why tell you about something that meant nothing?"

...

Back at the hospital Tom and Peri were sat on her hospital bed together just talking and occasionally kissing before Tom said he had to go because he didn't want to be late for school.

Jumping down from the bed he smiled at her before kissing her cheek "Bye, I'll try to come after school, love you"

"Love you too" she smiled as she watched him leave.

...

Back at the Lomax house Cameron and Leela sat looking at each other "Yes, of course I would have told you, but there is really nothing to tell, Peri walking in..."

"What?" he asked as he stood up "Our daughter walked in on you and him?" he asked in disgust "So that's why you stopped... Would you have slept with him if she hadn't of caught you? After all that's what you do"

As soon as he said that he tried to backtrack but Leela was already halfway upstairs "Leela, I didn't mean that"

"Whatever Cameron, I get it, I messed up, but what we did to Ziggy has nothing to do with this" she shouted before running upstairs.

Trailing upstairs after her he followed her into her room "Look, I'm sorry, you know me, I say stupid things I don't mean"

"I wish you never came back" she spat.

"Don't say that, please don't say that" Cameron begged as he sat down on the bed with her.

"I was happy with Ziggy, but then you came back and you just took me right from under his nose, you made me fall in love with you all over again, not that I ever stopped, I tried to fool myself and I was actually happy, but then you came in and messed with my head..." she trailed off as a tear fell down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away "I hate... I hate how much I love you, it makes me do crazy things" she looked up at him "When we're good we're really good but when we're bad we're toxic Cameron"

"So what are you saying?" he asked as he took her hands in his.

"I don't know" she whispered as she looked at their entwined hands "I don't know, I just know that I love you"

"Let's just start there" he said before leaning in and capturing her lips in a slow and tender kiss.

"I wouldn't have slept with him" she mumbled as she pulled her lips from his only for him to capture them again.

Moaning into the kiss Leela could feel his arousal against the inside of her thigh as he pushed her back on the bed and hovered over her.

He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek before making quick work of her clothes, leaving her in just her underwear as he smirked down at her before attacking her body with his lips.

"Cameron" she moaned his name as he made his way down her body and teased her with his fingers.

...

It was half past ten and visiting hours had started half an hour ago as Leela and Cameron made their way in the hospital and to the ward Peri was on.

"Hey" Leela smiled as she pulled the curtains back and saw her daughter sitting up on the bed.

"Hey" Peri smiled as she saw her Mum closely followed by her Dad "I thought you were coming first thing"

"Sorry, we got here as soon as we could" Leela told her as she walked over and hugged her baby girl.

"What were you doing?" Peri asked looking towards Cameron as Leela pulled back from the hug and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

"Oh, we were... um..."

"Talking" Cameron said, butting in.

"Yeah, we were just talking, lost track of time" Leela said quickly before smiling warmly at her daughter.

"Okay" Peri said as she looked at her Mum like she was crazy.


	25. Chapter 25

"So I'm guessing you and Dad have made up?" Peri asked as she sat up in bed talking to her Mum while Cameron had gone to the shop.

"Yeah, Ziggy told him about the kiss so he knows" Leela told her daughter.

"But you've okay right?" she asked anxiously.

Yes, we're fine, your Dad just needs to learn to control his jealousy and I need to stop being so stupid, because I love your Dad and he loves me, I can't believe I would be so stupid to nearly ruin all that"

Peri just looked at her Mum and smiled as she listened "I'm glad you've made up"

"How's my two favourite girls?" came a Scottish voice as Cameron walked into the cubical with a grin on his face.

Both Mum and daughter just smiled at him "You were talking about how amazing I am weren't you?" he teased with a wink in Leela's direction before pulling out a bag of treats for Peri and throwing them to her which she caught "It's a good job you aren't nil by mouth"

"Thanks" she smiled as she took a lollipop from the bag and started unwrapping it.

"Hey" Leela said "Didn't you get me anything?"

"Nope" he smirked as he walked over to her "Didn't know you wanted anything"

Leela was about to reply before he reached into the bag a pulled out a big bar of galaxy chocolate "Ah, I knew there was reason I loved you" she said as she made a grab for the chocolate in his hand but he moved it out of her reach "This is mine" he told her as he grinned down at her "You don't even like galaxy" she pointed out as she grabbed it from him and quickly opened it.

The small family where quiet for a minute before Cameron spoke "So you only love me because I buy you chocolate?" he asked before leaning in and putting his lips to her ear "There was me thinking it was for my amazing body"

"Hmm" Leela responded as she was just finishing her mouthful of chocolate "That too" she said casually "This is really good chocolate" she told him "Wanna taste?" she asked and before he could answer she pulled his lips to hers, letting him taste.

"Eww, that is really not something I wanna see" Peri said from where she sat on the bed.

"That really is good chocolate, I think I could get used to it" Cameron winked before turning to his daughter "I think I preferred it when you too were arguing" she stated causing her Mum to roll her eyes.

Cameron walked over to the chair and sat down leaving Leela standing, leaning forward he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, pulling her down onto his lap, he placed a soft kiss to the side of her head before resting his hands on his lap.

"Mum, when can I come home?" Peri asked as she looked expectantly at her Mum but she seemingly wasn't going to answer "I hate it here"

"I know babe, I'll speak to the doctor when we leave and see what's going on" she replied as she looked up at Cameron while sinking further into his chest.

Cameron moved his hand and placed it on her thigh which made it worse for Leela as she was only wearing her short dungarees, feeling his hand slowly moving until it touched her bare skin as she tried to speak to their daughter.

"Cameron, stop it" Leela said, slapping his hand away just as the doctor walked in.

"We're going to take Peri down for a scan now, to see if any things changed" the Doctor told them

"Do you think it'll have shrunk?" Peri asked.

"Well we've been monitoring you since you came in and there is a 50/50 chance, you're still on the medication so there is a chance that might've helped but we really can't say until we're seen the results from this new scan" the Doctor told Peri honestly before preparing to take her down to the MRI station.

...

"Your results show that the tumour has grown more" the Doctor told them as he looked at Peri's scan results.

"So what are you going to do?" Cameron asked as he looked at his daughter.

"Well I've spoken to my colleague who specialities in this, he's one of the best Brain surgeries in the world..."

"What, so you're going to operate? You said it's risky" Leela said.

"90% of the time the tablets we gave your daughter work effectively, but this was not the case for your daughter, therefore we need to choose the best step to take next and we feel that is to operate"

"So will it continue to grow?" Leela asked.

"I'm afraid so, we hoped it would shrink so we could remove it easier but it appears we were too optimistic, I'm sorry, but if we just leave it it's likely to spread and cause things like epilepsy, vomiting, hallucination" the Doctor said as he looked at everyone in the room "I've talked to my colleague and he thinks removing it although comes with risk it's the best thing for Peri"

"What are the risks?" Peri asked weakly.

"Loses of functions such as memory, vision, coordination, movement, also infection in the brain which could cause brain swelling and also a coma" the Doctor told her gently but honestly "Obviously brain infection is a risk with any brain surgery, and where your tumour is puts you at higher risk of memory loss and movement problems"

"NO, no, you're not operating on my daughter" Cameron shouted as he stepped forward towards the Doctor looking mad.

"Cameron, calm down" Leela whispered in his ear, pulling him back slightly.

"If we don't operate it will just grow, whether that's tomorrow or in a couple of months but it will grow, I'm sorry but operating is the best thing we can do now before it gets any bigger. If you agree to letting us operate we will need to monitor her for 12 hours where she will also have to be nil by mouth, then after the 12 hours we will need to give her another MRI, then if the tumour has stayed the same size and she's stable enough we will proceed with the operation"

"When will you operate?" Leela asked as she moved to her daughter's side and took her hand in hers.

"Tomorrow evening if everything goes as it should" the Doctor said "We will give you all the information and because Peri is only 14 we will need you to sign a form" the Doctor said looking at Leela; neither Leela or Cameron were listed on Per's birth certificate but her mum had agreed to naming her as next of kin, so now Sam and Danny were died Leela was the named person that could legally give consent to the operation.

"I'll give you some time to think about all I've said and I'll come back soon" the Doctor said before leaving.


	26. Chapter 26

A couple of hours had passed and Leela and Cameron were still having doubts so they hadn't signed anything yet. Peri said she should have the operation because it would just get bigger if she didn't so right now Leela and Cameron were discussing what to do; well Leela had broken down crying in Cameron's arms because she didn't know what to do.

"If she has the operation she could lose her memory, she might have all sorts of problems..." Leela broke off crying "What if..." she dissolved in tears as she thought about everything the Doctor had said.

"Babe, I know it's horrible, I would give anything to swap places with Peri, but I think we need to agree to this operation" Cameron told her causing her to look up "If she doesn't have it the tumour will just keep on growing, then it might not be able to be removed and Peri will have to live with the symptoms that come with the tumour forever and even if it doesn't grow it will still be there, giving her headaches, a constant reminder that someday it could grow and eventually..." he stopped as the next words he was about to say died in his throat as it was too painful to say out loud.

"So you think she should have the operation?" she questioned in a weak voice as her eyes watered.

Reaching out to dry her eyes he placed both his hands on her forearms "I do" he told her gently as he looked into her eyes seeing the pain behind them "I know you're scared, I'm scared too..."she cut him off "She's my little girl, I can't lose her Cameron"

"I know baby, I understand that, believe me I do, I only just found her" he said.

"I'm sorry" she sobbed.

"Hey, I'm not blaming you" he said as he pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair soothingly.

After a long moment Leela sniffed, trying to calm her tears as she pulled out of his embrace and stood up, holding her hand out for him which he quickly took with a gentle smile "Let's go and speak to Peri" she whispered.

Entering their daughter's cubical they saw her sat on the bed, as they walked in she turned away from them and wiped her damp eyes before turning back to them.

Leela walked over and wrapped her arms around her daughter in a tight embrace "I love you" she whispered.

"Love you too" Peri replied as she looked at her Dad over her Mum's shoulder.

Slowly pulling away from her daughter Leela sat in the chair and just looked at her daughter for a moment.

"So am I having the operation?" Peri asked, barely above a whisper.

Cameron walked over and took his daughter's hand in his before making sure she was 100% okay with having it.

"I'm scared, but I just want it gone" she told him.

"You do know there are risks?" Leela questioned her daughter.

"Yes, but the Doctor said it will grow eventually so whatever I do it's a risks, we just have to accept that there isn't a perfect answer, but removing it seems like the best option, the doctor seems to think so" Leela smiled weakly at her daughter; she was she level-headed and seemed so calm but she knew her daughter and knew she was terrified on the inside.

"Okay" Leela whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear as Cameron walked forward and took her hand, giving it a gently squeeze "I'll go speak to the Doctor" she told them before walking from the cubical.

Just than Peri got a text on her phone so she looked at it on the bedside table and saw Tom's name flash up; a huge smile appeared on her face before she grabbed her phone and eagerly read the message but her face quickly fell again once she had read it.

"Who's that?" Cameron asked from where he stood.

"Tom, he can't come after school" Peri told her Dad sadly.

"You can ring him later and speak to him" her Dad said trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see him" she told him with a frown.

"Hey" walking over to her, he took her hand in his "Ain't me and your Mum good enough for you?" he said with a gently smile on his face.

"Of course you are" she said, leaning over to hug him "I'm glad you're here"

"I know, I'm only teasing" he told her, kissing the side of her head "You love him" he said in a funny voice while pulling a face at his daughter.

"Dad" she groaned as she felt embarrassed which caused him to laugh.

Just then Leela walked in and smiled weakly at them "I spoke to the Doctor, he's going to come talk to you soon"

Peri's face fell slightly as she heard this and a tear slowly ran down her face.

Neither parent knew what to say to her to make it better so they just sat with her and tried their best to reassure her.

...

The Doctor had been in and explained that Peri couldn't eat or drink anything but water for the next 12 hours then she would have another MRI and if everything was good the operation would go ahead tomorrow evening.

Cameron sat on the end of the hospital bed while Leela sat in the chair as they both looked at Peri in concern; she had suddenly gone really quiet.

"What's up baby" her Mum questioned.

"What if after the operation Tom doesn't want me anymore? What if..." she trailed off as she sobbed lightly.

Cameron reached over and took her hand making her look up at him through teary eyes "What if you don't what to be my Mum and Dad anymore?" she asked weakly.

"Peri, we will always want to be your Mum and Dad" Leela told her making her turn her head in her Mum's direction "Why would you even think that?

"Because..." she paused "Just forget it" she whispered as she pulled her hand out of her Dad's and lowered her eyes as silent tears filled them.

Making his way over to his little girl he lifted her chin gently and made her look at him "Tell us what's bothering you, we won't be mad, we love you no matter what"

"When I was born..." she trailed off as her eyes drifted to her Mum and she took a sharp intake of breath before letting out a pained sob "You didn't want me then, what if I wake up and you don't want me anymore?" she broke down into tears as she pushed her Dad away from her trying to protect herself.

Leela looked at her daughter and her eyes filled with tears "Peri..." she gasped, standing up and trying to take her daughter's hands but she struggled "Peri, please, I've always wanted you, I wanted you when you were born, I want you now and I'll want you after all of this, nothing, NOTHING in this world will make me not want you" she promised her daughter with passion.

"Peri, you're our little girl, you and your Mum are the best things that have ever happened to me, you give me a reason to live" Cameron said.

"I didn't want to give you up Pez but I was only a child myself and I didn't get a chance to tell your Dad so I did what I thought was best for you, but I've always loved you as a mother, even at fourteen I was your mother. I wanted to be but Mum wouldn't let me so I had to pretend to be your sister" Leela told her daughter honestly for the first time "I want you forever Peri, I love you, I'm not going to leave you"

"What if I lose my memory or have problems? I know this operation is the best way but I'm so scared Mum"

"We'll deal with whatever happens together" her Mum promised "I know you're scared and I wish so much I could be in your place because seeing you like this kills me"

...

Visiting hours were up and Leela and Cameron were just about to head home when Peri broke into tears "Hey, we'll be back first thing tomorrow, I promise" Leela told her as she rushed to her daughter's side.

"Promise?" Peri asked as she threw her arms around her Mum "Promise, promise, promise" Leela said as she kissed her daughter's face.

Peri held her pinkie up and Leela quickly hooped hers around it before blowing a kiss on it making Peri smile as she and her 'sister' always did that when she was a kid; she remembers a time when she was 5 and Leela was 19 and she made Leela pinkie swear that she would buy her some sweeties

**Flashback**

_Leela walked up to a 5-year-old Peri and looped their fingers together, quickly blowing a kiss on it before saying 'Promise' then she walked out of the front door leaving Peri staring after her 'big sister'_

**End of Flashback**

Peri always liked spending time with Leela over Tegan, there was something about Leela; Peri definitely had Leela wrapped around her little finger growing up.


	27. Chapter 27

After Leela and Cameron had left the hospital Peri lay in her hospital bed thinking about everything, mainly Tom; she really hoped to see him before the operation. She had got to call him just after her Mum and Dad had left and she had told him what was happening, he was amazing and promised to try his best to leave school early so he could see her before the op.

At the house Cameron made his way upstairs and into Leela's room where they both always slept now, seeing Leela laying wide awake he stripped down to his boxers and climbed under the covers, pulling her close.

As she sank into his warm embrace a tear escaped her eye as she thought about the operation tomorrow, leaning up, she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him "Love you"

He reached out and captured a loose strand of hair before brushing it behind her ear "Love you more"

Leaning up she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before turning the light off, hoping to get some sleep.

She lay there feeling his arms around her as she tried to find sleep but she became restless and was tossing and turning none stop.

...

"Babe" Cameron called in a loud whisper.

"What?" Leela grumbled.

"Babe, you've been tossing and turning all night" he said before running his fingers though her hair in a comforting manner.

"Sorry" she whispered.

"It's okay baby, I'm worried too, but try to get some sleep" he told her.

...

Leela walked downstairs and felt herself blush a little as she looked at Cameron before remembering what was going to happen today.

"Hey" Tegan said "I'm going to try to see Peri later, I text her earlier, told her I love her and she's going to be fine"

Leela gave her sister a small smile as she walked into the kitchen "Where's Ste?"

"He took Leah to school and Rose and Lucas to nursery, he said to tell you that he will visit Peri after work"

"What time does he finish work?" Leela questioned.

"2 I think" Tegan shrugged before going upstairs.

"Morning" Cameron said as he walked up to Leela and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Last night Leela couldn't slept, her mind was very much on repeat and Cameron although he understood because he was just as worried as she was he was getting frustrated with her restlessness so in the end he decided to distract her with a very heated make out session which swiftly turned into a lot more and Leela was well and truly distracted, but of course that distraction was only temporary and now this morning she was just as worried again.

"Hey" Leela said dismissively "We need to be at the hospital in half an hour"

"I know" Cameron mumbled with his arms still around her waist as he kissed the side of her neck.

"So, go and get ready" she told him with an edge to her voice.

"Okay, I'm going" he said as he took his hands off her and held them up in surrender.

"Sorry" she sighed "I just don't want to be late, I promised we'll be there first thing"

...

Leela and Cameron walked into the cubical to find a sleeping Peri, and Tom sat watching her.

"Tom, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" Leela asked quietly so she didn't wake Peri.

"I just needed to see her" he said with nervousness.

"She wouldn't want you missing school, I'll tell her you were here but you should go to school Tom" Leela told the young boy gently.

Tom looked troubled as he didn't want to go but maybe Leela was right "Can I come and see here after school?"

"Of course, I'm not stopping you from seeing her Tom" Leela told him.

"Okay, just tell her I was here, she was asleep when I got here" he said.

"Okay" Leela said as she looked at her sleeping daughter.

"Bye" Tom said.

"See ya Tom" Cameron said as he watched the young boy go "He really cares about her" he commented once Tom was gone.

"Yeah, he's a sweet boy, he's good to her" Leela said as she watched her peaceful daughter.

Peri stirred and slowly opened her eyes to see her Mum "Hey" Peri whispered, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"Hey, we brought you some stuff from home, more clothes and some other bits" Leela said pointing to the bag at the foot of the bed.

"Thanks" Peri smiled.

"Tom was here" Leela told her daughter "He said he'll come visit after school"

"Why was he here? Shouldn't he be at school?" she asked.

Leela shrugged "He wanted to see you, but I told him he should be at school and you wouldn't want him missing it either"

"Can I eat? I'm starving" Peri asked.

"You can't eat anything" Cameron told her causing her to sigh.

"You got water though" Leela added, pointing at the jug of water on the side.

Peri frowned "Can't they just do this stupid operation now? Err, I hate it here"

"A little while longer, then you can come home... Oh, Teegs and Ste are gonna pop in later" Leela told her daughter as she tried to cheer her up a bit.

Peri just smiled kindly before lying down again and turning away from her parents; she hadn't got much sleep last night because of Doctors and Nurses coming in and out of the room and the stupid headaches that wouldn't stop no matter the medication the Nurses gave her for them they just would not go away.

Leela and Cameron watched their daughter who had her back to them as a Doctor walked in.

"Hi" he said causing Peri to let out a loud sigh before sitting up.

"What?" she snapped.

"Sorry, she's isn't in a very good mood today" Cameron told the Doctor.

"Oh, do you have a brain tumour?" she snapped at her Dad "No, I think I'm entitled to not be in the best of moods"

"Okay Peri, calm down" her Mum said as she watched her daughter getting mad.

"No, get out, just leave me alone" she shouted and all the people in the room just looked at her "GET OUT" she shouted before breaking down in tears as her Mum quickly caught her and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'll come back a bit later" the Doctor said sympathetically.

...

"How is she?" Ste asked as he came to see her.

"She's okay, she had a meltdown earlier, and she cried for 45 minutes and nothing we said helped" Ste smiled sympathetically at his sister "Cam's with her now, I think she's calmed down a bit"

"Okay, I'm gonna go see her" he said.

Ste walked into the cubical and saw father and daughter hugging so he cleared his throat hoping to get their attention.

"Ste" Peri jumped off the bed and threw her arms around him.

"We're going to take you for your MRI now?" a Doctor said as he came into the room followed by Leela, and Tegan who had just arrived.

Peri quickly hugged Tegan before going for her scan.

On the way to the scan she coughed up blood which wasn't a good sign according to the Doctor's as they feared the tumour had grown more.

Nurses and Doctors surrounded the monitors that revealed the results of the MRI scan, a Nurse smiled as she looked at the screen while one of the Doctor's frowned slightly before asking his colleagues to go and fetch something.

"Right" the Doctor said before entering the MRI room with a Nurse to take Peri back to the ward.


	28. Chapter 28

The Doctor and Nurse brought Peri back to her cubical where Leela, Cameron and Tom where waiting for her.

"Tom, you came" Peri said excitedly as she noticed him standing by her Mum.

"Wanted to see my girl, of course I came" he replied coolly making Peri blush slightly.

"I'm glad you're here, I missed you" she said as she sat cross-legged on her hospital bed.

"Where did Tegan and Ste go?" she questioned as she looked around.

"They've just gone to the shop, they'll be back soon" Leela told her.

"We have your results..." a Doctor said as he came back into the cubical holding a file "Are you alright for everyone to be here?" he asked Peri as he looked at all the people in the room.

"Yeah, it's fine" Peri said "So can you operate?"

"Yes, we can go ahead with the operation as planned" the Doctor told her before looking towards Leela and Cameron "We were a bit worried for a while as on the way to the scanner your daughter coughed up some blood but it hasn't grown so that's a really positive step"

"When are you going to operate?" Cameron asked from where he stood with his arm around Leela.

"Well, we have a slot free in about 2 hours, so if everything's okay we will go ahead then" the Doctor said "We've got all the consent forms so that's fine and Peri has had nothing to eat or drink since last night, right?" the Doctor asked, looking at Peri in question and she nodded.

"So it's 3 now, we're looking at about 5 and the operation can take anything between 3-5 hours, if it takes longer it doesn't mean anything it just means it's taking longer, obviously any operation involving the brain is complex so these things can just take time"

"What will happen after the operation?" Peri asked from the bed.

"Well we'll give you a general anaesthetic then after the operation we'll wake you up and bring you back to the ward, then a Nurse will check for any signs of movement, memory, coordination and any other problems you may experience, and if everything is fine you will be kept in overnight then discharged the next morning"

"Thank you Doctor" Leela said as she watched her daughter closely for a few moments.

"The Neurosurgeon will come in about 2 hours to take you down" the Doctor told them before asking if they had any more questions than leaving.

"Hey, what's going on?" Tegan asked as her and Ste walked into the cubical, passing the Doctor on the way.

"She can have the op" Leela whispered.

"Hey, that's good" Ste said as he watched his sister who was leaning into Cameron's side for support "She'll be okay" he said "Our Peri is strong, she'll get through this" he smiled gently at Peri "She take's after her Mum" he grinned.

"Yeah, stubborn and gobby" Tegan teased gently before continuing "You're so brave and strong, you know, you're so much like your Mum it's unreal, I'm surprised I didn't see it sooner"

Peri smiled at Tegan's comment; she was glad she was like her Mum, it was hard at first and a bit strange because most of her life she knew Leela as her sister but now she was glad that she knew, she had accepted it fully and she couldn't ask for better parents.

Cameron and Leela where loving but they were also cool and understanding, they listened to her before yelling at her whereas Sam and Danny often yelled at her without hearing what she had to say, she still loved them of course, she missed them every day but she was so grateful for her real parents.

...

Everyone stayed with Peri for the next hour before Ste and Tegan left, hugging Peri goodbye and promising to see her tomorrow as they wished her good luck before finally leaving.

Tom sat on the bed with Peri while Cameron sat in the chair with Leela in his lap "Mum, do you mind if I have some time with Tom? He's got to go soon and..."

Leela cut her daughter off and said it's fine, dragging Cameron out off the cubical with her and leaving the two teenagers alone.

"Are you really okay with just leaving them alone all the time?" he questioned once they were in the corridor.

"Yeah, aren't you?" she wondered.

"Well, I don't know, honestly not really" he told her truthfully.

"Cam, they're fine, they're probably only talking"

"They could do that with us there" he stated.

"Oh Cam" she laughed slightly before looking at him seriously "Stop worrying, she's a sensible girl, plus I really don't think her mind is on anything other than her operation right now"

Walking to the cafeteria they grabbed something to eat and sat down for a bit.

"It'll be okay, you know?" he whispered as her face displayed nothing but worry.

"I hope you're right" she mumbled.

They sat there for a couple more minutes as she leant across the table and kissed him softly before pulling away.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Because I love you" she told him with a smile "And for not leaving me"

"I'd never leave you"

Back in the cubical Peri was resting her head on Tom's shoulder as she just enjoyed being with him.

"Tom" she mumbled "You know, if after the operation..." she lifted her head to look at him "If after the operation, what if... What if something happens, what if... What if you don't want me anymore?" she asked, unsure of what to say.

"What?" he asked in surprise "Why would you say that? I love you"

"I love you too, but the Doctor said I could loss my memory or I might not be able to walk, will you still want me then?" she asked.

"Yes, I love you Peri, I love you because you're amazing, you're the kindest girl I know and you'd do anything for the ones you love, I want to be with you forever Peri" he told her.

"Do you see a future with me, like when we're older... marriage, kids? Because I do" she asked "I know we're young and that but..." she rambled on quickly.

Taking both her hands he laced their fingers together "I would love nothing more than to marry you, be the father of your kids, everything, and I promise I'll give it all to you one day"

"Do you mean that?" she asked with a massive smile on her face.

"I do, I'm really glad you came into my life"

"I'm glad too, I was never really interested in boys until you" she admitted.

"Well that's good" he laughed before leaning forward and kissing her passionately on the lips, she kissed back; they were both a lot less timid in their relationship now; well they had almost slept together once so they were well and truly over being awkward with each other.

They both wanted to take that step, but something was always stopping them. They had both decided they weren't ready just yet for that intimate part of their relationship but everyday they were moving that one step closer to it, and they knew they were still young but they both loved each other and they wanted to show the other just how much.

"Tom" Peri sighed as she pulled away from the kiss "I love you"

"I love you too" he told her intensely.

"I think I'm ready" she told him.

He looked at her as he wondered what she was telling him but then it clicked.

"As soon as I'm out, I want to, I want to be with you in that way, in every way" she told with confidence.

"Just focus on getting better first" he said as he placed a kiss to her cheek "Anyway I need to go, I promised Nancy and Darren I'll be home by half 4, Love you" he quickly jumped off the bed and gave her one last hug "Good luck"

"Bye" she said as she watched him go.

...

Leela and Cameron sat with Peri until it was time for her to go down for her operation; the Doctor said they could walk with her until they got to theatre so that's what they did.

"We'll be right here waiting for you" Leela promised, giving her one last hug and kiss before letting her go.

"Love you kiddo" Cameron said before she was wheeled though the double doors of the operating theatre.


	29. Chapter 29

Peri had been in the operation room for 2 hours and Leela was panicking "Something bad's happened, I know it, I can feel it... Cameron, why isn't she out?" she rambled as she paced back and forth.

"The doctor said it can take up to 5 hours" he said from where he sat as he appeared calm.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked as she looked at him "It's been 2 hours... Oh my god, what if I lose her?... I can't lose her, I've already lost my Mum and Dad" she began freaking out as Cameron tried to speak to her but she kept going.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said from where he sat, getting up and walking over to her "Slow down, we ain't gonna lose her" he rubbed his hands up and down her arms trying to reassure her "We just need to wait, the doctor will be out if there's any news" he said, taking her hand and leading her to the seats "Just sit there, try to stay calm"

"How can I be calm? Cameron my daughter's in there" she shouted.

"I know" he sighed as someone walked out of the double doors.

Leela looked up with worry as Cameron got to his feet "How is she? Did it go alright?"

"The surgeon is just finishing up now, there were a few complications"

"Complications?" Leela muttered, getting to her feet "What sort of complications?"

"While your daughter was under general anaesthetic we monitored her closely, her blood pressure became really high and her breathing started to become uneven so we had to change how deeply asleep she was during the surgery, this meant we had to stop the surgery because we had to make sure we weren't doing anymore damage to the brain. We had to make sure your daughter was fully stabile before we continued with the operation, we also had to wait for another anaesthetist to come down from another ward"

"So she's okay now?" Cameron asked.

"Well the tumour's gone, as for the damage, well we won't know until she's came around, the nurse will do some tests when she is back on the ward" he looked at a piece of paper in his hands "Also are you positive that there is nothing your daughter could be allergic to?"

"Nothing that we know of" Leela said.

"Ok, well I suspect your daughter might have had a mild reaction to the general anaesthetic we gave her, so we'll also run tests to find out more about that"

"When will she be out of theatre?" Cameron asked.

"The neurosurgeon was just finishing up so she should be out soon" the man replied as he walked down the corridor and out of sight.

...

The double doors flew open about 10 minutes later causing both parents to shot up from their seats.

"Peri" Leela gasped as she went straight to her daughter's side.

"Hey Mum" Peri mumbled sleepily.

"She's still a bit drowsy from the anaesthetic, we're going to take her back to the ward now" one of the Nurses said.

"Where's Dad?" Peri mumbled.

"I'm right here" Cameron said as he stepped closer to the bed so she could see him, she smiled weakly "Hey"

"How are you feeling baby?" Leela asked as they began moving.

"Hmm" Peri mumbled, not having the strength the reply.

...

"So, a nurse will come back in a while to do some tests" a Doctor said once they had gotten Peri comfortable, they had taken her to a side room now because they had one free and they thought she might like to have more privacy.

"As you can see your daughter is talking a bit already, but tests will tell us if anything is not as it should be"

Cameron watched the Doctor leave the room before turning back to his daughter "What time is it?" she mumbled.

"Half 7" he told her "Hey, this is a bit of alright ain't it?" he added as he looked around the room which was quite big with its own private bathroom in.

"Yeah" Peri said, smiling lazily as she still felt a bit sleepy, but it would hopefully wear off soon.

"Bit sleepy?" her Mum asked and she nodded slowly.

"Why don't you try getting some sleep before the nurse comes?"

"Probably" Peri whispered before shutting her eyes.

Cameron stood with his arm around his girlfriend as they both watched their daughter for a minute, hoping she would be okay.

Turning into his arms she pulled herself closer to him as she inhaled his familiar scent.

"I'm knackered" she whispered into the crook of her neck before looking back at their sleeping daughter.

"I'm not surprised, we're been here like 9 hours"

...

"Hey" a Nurse whispered as she popped her head in the door "I'm just going to run a few tests on your daughter" she said quietly as she noticed the young patient was sleeping "I'll come back in about five minutes, she needs be awake for the tests so I can check how alert she is"

"Okay" Leela said before the Nurse disappeared again.

Just then Peri stirred and opened her eyes slowly as she looked at her parents "Hey you" Leela said as she walked over to her and gave her a small hug "How you feeling?"

"A bit sick" she said.

"Hey, ready for these tests?" a Nurse asked with enthusiasm as she made her way into the room.

"I guess" Peri said as she looked at her Mum with scared eyes.

"It's okay" she whispered, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I feel sick" Peri told the Nurse.

"Oh, that's normal, it's just the anaesthetic wearing off, it should go off soon"

"Okay" Peri mumbled as the Nurse looked into her eyes with her touch, checking her pupil reaction.

The Nurse got Peri to do some exercises such as moving about and walking, she also tested her short-term and long-term memory as well as other functions before going to get a Doctor.

The Nurse made notes as she did the tests and Leela and Cameron couldn't tell if it was good or bad, when she left the room to get a Doctor they started fearing the worst.


	30. Chapter 30

The Doctor entered Peri's room and did some more check's before addressing everyone in the room "It appears there maybe some problems with short-time memory, but test's hint that it's likely to only be temporary. It's likely to just be an after-effect of the operation, everything else seems fine"

"So she's okay apart for the little memory problem?" Cameron asked the Doctor.

"Yes, the operation went fine. We also found out your daughter did suffer a minor allergic reaction of sorts to the general anaesthetic but we were able to rectify it very easier by just decreasing the dosage slightly, so it's nothing to worry about. I will just write it on her notes so if she ever needs a general anaesthetic in the future medical staff will know and it hopefully shouldn't happen again"

"So when will my memory improve?" Peri asked.

"Hopefully soon, it's not really an issue at the moment, it would be more serious if it was your long-term memory" the Doctor said.

"So I'm going to be okay?" she asked with a weak smile.

"It appears so" the Doctor said as he smiled at his young patient "You did very well, and you should make a full recovery"

"When can I go home?" she asked.

"Well we would like to keep you in overnight, and then you can be discharged tomorrow morning if everything stays the same" the Doctor said "If the short-term memory is still an issue in a few days I would like to see you again though"

"Okay" Peri said as she smiled at her parents; she couldn't wait to go home finally.

"Thank you so much Doctor" Leela said as she walked over and hugged her daughter "I love you so much" she whispered in her ear"

"Love you too" she said, pulling back she saw the Doctor leaving "Can I ring Tom?" she asked her Mum.

"It's a bit late, maybe just text him. You can ring him in the morning" Leela told her daughter.

"But he'll be at school" Peri moaned.

"It's Saturday tomorrow you donut" Leela said light-heartedly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot" Peri muttered.

"It's okay sweetie" her Mum smiled kindly "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"You're not leaving are you?" Peri asked.

"No, we'll stay until we get chucked out" Leela assured her daughter "You can't get rid of us that easily" her Dad teased.

Peri rolled her eyes as she smiled at her Dad "Okay"

She then rolled over, facing away from her parents "Night" she mumbled as she began to feel really sleepy again.

...

They sat watching their baby girl sleep for about 30 minutes before they got told they had to leave.

Peri hadn't woken up and they didn't want to wake her so they both went over and gently kissed her on the forehead before leaving.

"It's over" Leela breathed as they left the room "What if it comes back?"

"She's okay, let's just focus on that for now" Cameron told her.

"You're right" Leela sighed before leaning into his side.

They continued walking to the hospital exit in silence as Leela leant her weight on Cameron and yawned "Tired?" he questioned, running his fingers down her cheek causing her to lay her head on him as they walked out of the exit and headed home.

Once they got home they found Ste and Tegan sat on the couch with a sleepy Leah.

"Is Peri okay?" Leah asked, running over to her Auntie Leela.

"Yep" she told her niece before looking at her brother and sister "She's fine, she can come home tomorrow"

"That's great news" Ste said.

"I'm glad Peri's okay, I like having another cousin" Leah said.

Leela chuckled slightly "Anyway missus, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I wanted to stay up to make sure Peri was okay" Leah told her Aunt.

"Well she's fine..." Leela started to say.

"Yeah, how about Daddy takes you to bed?" Ste offered.

"Okay Dad" Leah said "Night Night" she said to everyone before running upstairs.

"Leah slow down, you'll wake Rose and Lucas if you're not careful"

"Sorry Daddy" she said as she stopped running and climbed the stairs a bit quieter.

Leela and Cameron watched as Ste followed Leah upstairs.

"I'm going to go up babe, give you some time to talk to Tegan" Cameron said as he went upstairs, Leela smiled "Okay" she kissed him softly on the lips before going to sit beside her sister.

"So she's really okay?" Tegan asked.

"Yep" Leela grinned "She had some sort of small reaction or something but the Doctor said it's nothing to worry about, she's also got problems with her short-term memory but the Doc said it's probably just left over from the op and it's likely only temporary"

"That's great" Tegan smiled "I mean she's going to be okay?"

Leela nodded before yawning "I'm going to go up, I am exhausted"

"Okay, I'm going to do some university work for a bit" Tegan said as she had just started as online university course.

"Night" Leela mumbled before heading upstairs.

Leela made her way into her room which was now her and Cameron's room and smiled as she saw him lying in his boxers, the covers loosely hanging over his waist.

She stripped out of her clothes and left her underwear on, climbing into bed with him as she didn't have the energy to put a night-shirt or anything on; she was so exhausted, she just wanted to sleep.

Settling against Cameron she mumbled an 'I love you' before falling to sleep.

He stared down at her for a few minutes before turning out the light and falling to sleep as well.

...

Peri sat in the dark on her hospital bed, phone in her hand as she quietly spoke to Tom.

"You should get some sleep, it's really late" he said on the other end.

"I know, I just wanted to hear your voice" Peri told him.

"I love you" he said.

"Love you" she smiled to herself "I should go" she whispered.

"Yeah" he said before going quiet for a bit.

"Night"

"Night Tom" she said as she went to end the call be his voice stopped her.

"I'm really glad you're okay" he told her.

"Me too" she grinned to herself "See you tomorrow yeah?"

"You bet" he said "Get some sleep"

"I will" she whispered but she couldn't bring herself to put the phone down.

"See you tomorrow" he said.

"Yeah" she sighed "I love you"

"Peri, we need to hang up it's like 1 in the morning" he told her as he laughed softy.

"I know, so see you tomorrow" she repeated again.

"You will, promise" he said through the speaker "Now go to sleep"

"Fine" she huffed.

"Sweet dreams" he said before hanging up.

Peri sighed in frustration as she put her phone on the side table and decided to settle down to try to get some sleep; she would be home soon, hopefully...


	31. Chapter 31

Peri was waiting for her Mum and Dad to come and visit her, her phone was in her hands as she flipped it over and over, deciding to ring Tom she scrolled though her phone book and found his number, pressing call.

After the first ring he picked up "Peri, what are you doing ringing me? Are you alright?" Tom's worried voice asked.

"I just wanted to ring you, the operation went well" she told him.

"I know"

"You do, did Mum tell you?" she asked.

"No, you rang me last night, don't you remember?"

"Yeah, course I remember" she told him quietly "So you're coming to the hospital right?"

"Yes, I'm coming with your Mum and Dad" he confirmed on the other end.

"Okay" she frowned to herself "Well I'm going to go" she said in a whisper.

"Okay" he said with slight concerned "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll just see you when you get here, bye" she hung up.

"Love you" Tom said on the other end but she had already hung up.

"Are you okay Tom?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, just had a weird conversation with Peri" he said distractedly "Well I'm going to go over to Leela's so I can go see Peri with her"

"Okay, send my love, tell Peri I hope she feels better soon"

Tom made his way out of the flat and down the stairs to the pub before exiting it and walking to the Lomax house.

Walking up the steps to the house he knocked on the door waiting for someone to answer.

"Hi Tom, come in, Leela's just getting ready" Cameron said as he opened the door.

"Okay" he replied as he walked in and went to sit on the couch.

"Hey Tom" Leela said as she came down the stairs "I know Peri can't wait to see you"

"Yeah, she rang me last night and this morning, told me the exact same thing, it was a bit weird, then she went all strange and hung up on me" he told Leela.

"Hmm" Leela replied as she thought about her daughter "Did she tell you she's got some problems with her memory but the Doctor said it should wear off soon"

"She didn't tell me" Tom shrugged.

"Well she probably just forgot" Leela assured him "Right, ready?" she asked, looking at both Cameron and Tom.

...

"Hey" Leela said as she made her way to her daughter and gave her a big hug "How are you feeling?"

"Tired" Peri mumbled, her eyes travelled to Tom "Hey Tom" she said with a small smile.

"Hey" he walked over to her and went to give her a kiss but she turned her head away so he only managed to kiss her cheek "Are you okay?"

"Fine" she smiled faintly before looking back to her Mum "Where's Dad?"

"He's speaking to the Doctor to see if you can come home"

"Tom, do you mind going to the shop for me?" Peri asked "I really fancy some chocolate"

"Sure" Tom smiled before walking from the room.

Peri waited a minute before she was sure he was gone then she spoke to her Mum "Do you think I'll make a full recovery?" she asked.

"Of course, the Doctor said you have done so well, it's just a little memory thing" Leela told her daughter.

"Hmm I guess" Peri frowned slightly.

"Hunnie, what is bothering you?" her Mum asked as she could see something was troubling her daughter.

"Nothing, I'm fine" Peri told her Mum, faking a smile.

"Okay sweetie, but remember I'm here, you can talk to me or your Dad about anything"

"I know" she sighed before her Dad opened the door.

"Hey baby girl" he said as he smiled at her "Guess what?"

"What?" she asked.

"You can come home, the Doctor just needs to come and see you then he will discharge you, that's great isn't it?"

"Yeah" Peri breathed.

Cameron looked towards Leela who just shrugged; Peri seemed a bit down about something.

"I'm just going to talk to the Doctor" Leela said, making her way out of the room.

"What about?" Peri asked.

"Just about some forms" Leela lied.

Leela left leaving Cameron and Peri in the room "So how are you?" Cameron asked enthusiastically "Bet you can't wait to be home"

"Yeah, it's great" Peri replied disheartened.

Outside the room Leela was speaking to the Doctor "I'm a bit worried about Peri, she seems really sad, are you sure she's okay? We're got nothing to worry about?"

"I'll come and see her in a minute, the brain is a very complex place and the tumour we removed was bigger than last time and in a more tricky location, she may just be experiencing a form of depression, it can happen in patients post surgery especially with brain surgery, and if she had experienced loss and disruption recently it can increase the chances of it happening" the Doctor told Leela "I will be in shortly to do a discharge assessment on her and if anything shows up we won't discharge her unless absolutely sure she's okay, just try not to worry"

Going back into Peri's hospital room she saw that her daughter had fallen asleep as Cameron watched her.

"Is she okay?" Leela whispered as she walked over to Cameron who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyway the Doctor will be in soon, he said she might have post surgery depression or something"

"Is that serious?" he asked.

"I don't think so, at least I hope not, the Doctor isn't sure, he's going to do a discharge assessment on her to see if she's okay"

Tom arrived back from the shop then with a big bar of chocolate which was meant for Peri but Leela started eating some of it.

"I think Tom brought that for Peri" Cameron whispered in her ear.

"I'm just having a bit, I'm nervous" Leela told him.

"It'll be okay" he said, taking the chocolate bar from her and putting it on Peri's table as she still slept peacefully.

"So, is she coming home?" Tom asked.

"Should be mate" Cameron said, smiling at the young boy who smiled back brightly; he was happy his girlfriend was going to be okay.

Just then the Doctor walked through the doors with a woman dressed in casual clothes wearing a name badge causing Peri to wake up "Right Peri, I'm just going to check some things, make sure it's okay for you to be discharged" he told her "This is Carolyn, she's an emotional welfare counsellor" he pointed at the woman beside him "Hi I'm Carolyn, I'm just going to ask you a few questions, is that okay? Peri nodded slowly as she looked at her parents.

The Doctor asked everyone to wait outside as him and Carolyn got on with examining Peri.

"All done" the Doctor said once he had finished, Carolyn was just finishing up as she wrote some notes before giving them to the Doctor "Thank you Peri" she said before getting up and leaving.

"Can I go to the toilet?" Peri asked the Doctor who nodded, getting up she went over to her own private bathroom and locked herself in.

The Doctor left the room and found Peri's parents before telling them the news "Okay, well your daughter appears to be physically fine and can be discharged, though she is suffering from a mild case of post surgical depression which I think stems a bit from things in her personal life too. As I know you recently lost your parents and she found out she had been lied to most of her life..."

"Yeah, but that was months ago, she's happy" Leela argued.

"I'm not disputing that but I think somewhere deep inside Peri feels like she's alone. She lost these two people she thought were her parents, she needs to be certain it won't happen again" the Doctor said.

"We've told her we will never leave her, she's our little girl, we love her" Leela said as Cameron put his arm around her.

"Miss Lomax, there are many different layers to a person's emotional needs and Carolyn is a training expert in that matter. Your daughter has buried it deep down but it's there, the insecurity, and the brain operation just amplified it and she needs reassurance, also it's not uncommon for brain surgery patients to feel like this so some of it's just a symptom of the operation and she should feel better soon although it can last for months, but given Peri's age that's probably not the case"

Leela stood staring at the Doctor; _is he saying I don't love my daughter enough? _She thought to herself.

Cameron felt her body tense so he quickly hugged her "It's okay baby" he whispered in her ear "We'll help her, we'll make sure she knows we love her every day, I promise"

Leela pulled out of Cameron's arms and looked at the Doctor "Do I need to sign anything?"

"If you just go to reception on your way out and ask for discharge forms for Peri Lomax they will sort it out for you"

"Okay" Leela said expressionlessly before walking back into her daughter's room.

"Thank you" Cameron said before following his girlfriend into their daughter's room, Tom quickly followed behind as he heard all the Doctor had said and he woundered if Peri would be okay.


	32. Chapter 32

_The insecurity_

_The insecurity_

_The insecurity_

_Your daughter has buried it deep down_

_Loss and disruption_

_Alone_

_Unloved..._

This all floated around Leela mind as she lay in bed that night.

Peri was now home and currently in bed asleep, she had asked Ste and Tegan the same thing about three times and Leah had told her she had already asked that causing Peri to suddenly become really quiet before excusing herself upstairs where she now slept.

It was midnight and Leela lay wide awake thinking about what the Doctor had said; she couldn't help but think she was a bad mother.

Cameron shifted beside her and opened his eyes "Baby, what's wrong?" he whispered as he pulled her body against his.

"I feel like a bad mother Cameron, you heard the Doctor. The words just keep going around and around in my mind"

"Baby" he sighed "The Doctor didn't mean it like that. You're not a bad mother, don't ever think that"

"I gave her up" she whispered.

"You were only a kid" he told her "I wasn't there for you, you did what you thought was best for her"

"I should have fought for her" she looked sadly at him "I should have fought for my baby girl" she sobbed "I was only 14 but I was her Mother and I loved her. I should have done more"

"Hey" he stroked her cheek "You are fighting for her now, you fought for her when she didn't want to know, you didn't give up and that makes you an amazing Mother"

"But..." she sniffled.

"No Leela, no buts" he said firmly "The past is the past okay?"

She nodded slowly "I don't think I could have done any of this without you" she mumbled against his chest "I think you could have" he told her "But you don't have to" he assured her "Because I'm here, always... For you and Peri, we're our own perfect little family now" he smiled to himself.

"I love you" she sighed into his chest.

"Good" he rubbed her shoulders making her look up at him "I love you too"

Leaning up she pecking his lips "Thank you"

"Now can we go to sleep, please?" he asked as he grinned down at her, his arms still firmly around her.

"Yeah" she smiled "As long as you don't let me go"

"Never" he whispered in her ear, dipping down he placed a gently kiss to the side of her head "Get some sleep" he uttered in her ear.

...

Morning came and Leela walked out of her room fully dressed as she was about to head downstairs.

Hearing the soft sniffles coming for her daughter's room she knocked gently on the door but she didn't get any answer.

Deciding to let herself in she cracked the door open and peeped in, she saw her daughter laying facing away from her as she could hear the soft sounds of her cries.

"Peri" Leela called softly, going to sit on the bed she put her hand on her daughter's side "What's the matter darling?"

Peri slowly turned towards her Mum with red, puffy eyes and just cried "Hunnie, what's wrong?" she asked, softly wiping her daughters tears away.

"Nothing. I just, I don't know" Peri cried.

"It's okay baby" Leela assured her "You're allowed to feel sad if you want, it's okay, just know that I'm here for you... Me, your Dad, Ste, Tegan, we're all here for you. We all love you so much, you know that right?"

Peri hesitated for a second before slowly nodding "Mum, can I go back to school tomorrow?"

"It's too soon" Leela said.

"But I want to go back" Peri answered.

"Baby, you can wait a week or so, you've just had surgery, you need some time" Leela said softly.

"No, I want to go back now, please Mum" Peri begged.

"I don't know" Leela said as she looked sympathetically at her daughter "I'll speak to your Dad about it okay?"

"Okay" Peri breathed.

Leela got up from the bed and walked to the door "Love you baby" she told her daughter but getting no reply she left the room.

Walking back to her room she found Cameron getting dressed, he noticed the worried look on her face "Hey babe" he said, kissing her on the cheek as she came to sit on the bed beside him "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Peri wants to go back to school tomorrow" she told him.

"It's too soon"

"That's want I said" she told him, looking at him "But maybe it's what she needs"

Cameron watched her closely and was about to say something but Leela spoke again "She seems really sad at the moment, she was crying before when I walked in and when I asked her why she said she didn't know" she looked at him "Cameron, I don't know what to do"

"We'll speak to her together later" he assured her, squeezing her hand before he continued to get dressed.

...

Later that afternoon Peri was sat watching a film with Leah and Lucas as Leela and Cameron talked quietly in the kitchen.

"She's really quiet, she's barely said two words to me since this morning" Leela whispered "I asked if she wanted to see Tom today and she said no, I mean that's not like her"

"She's been through a lot, remember what the Doctor said, she'll be back to her normal self in a few days" Cameron assured.

"But what if she's not? and what if her memory doesn't get better?" Leela asked with a pained look "She's not coping, I don't know how to help her"

"Just be there for her, that's all we can do" Cameron said "It's only been a couple of days, it will take time but she'll be better I promise"

"I hope so" Leela said, leaning into him "I feel so useless"

"Well don't" he said as he gently caressed her hair "You're anything but useless, Peri wouldn't have been able to get though all she has without you, you're her Mum" he smiled.

"She had you" she said as she looked up at him "But I'm not you" he told her "You're her Mum and she needs you more than she lets on. She loves you"

"We'll talk to her later about school, I think it's too early for her to go back" she said firmly.

"Okay" he whispered as held her in his arms, they both stood like that for what seemed like forever just watching Peri who was currently engrossed in the film.


	33. Chapter 33

Later that night Leela and Cameron sat down on the sofa with Peri.

"So your Mum tells me you want to go back to school?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah" Peri told him "Please let me go"

"You've just come out of hospital" Cameron told his daughter "Don't you think it's too soon?"

"No, it's not, I'm fine, I just want to go back and get back to normal" Peri told her Dad.

"Okay, if we let you go back..." Leela cut him off "Cam..." she started to protest but he carried on "Do you promise to tell us if it gets too much, or you start to feel ill, you tell us okay?"

"I will" she said, turning to face her Mum "I'll be okay, I promise"

Leela looked torn as she looked at her daughter's pleading eyes "Fine" she sighed "But anything, anything at all and you promise to tell us?"

"Promise, so I can go back tomorrow?"

Leela looked at Cameron before looking back at her daughter "Yeah" she smiled "We love you Peri and we just want what's best for you"

"I know and I will be fine I promise" Peri said.

"Okay" Leela leant forward and hugged her daughter before pulling back.

"I'm going to go to bed, night" Peri told her parents as she got up, quickly hugging her Dad she ran upstairs to her room.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Leela questioned as she stared after their daughter.

"She will be" Cameron assured her "And if she's not she will tell us"

"I don't know, when she's set on something nothing will stop her" she told him absentmindedly.

"We just need to trust her" he said as he pulled her into his side.

"I know, and I do trust her, I just worry" she sighed, leaning against his side.

"I know you do" he said gently before learning forward and peaking her on the lips "That's why I love you" he said causing her to smile.

"I love you too" she said as they sat back, she snuggled further into his side as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Cam..." she mumbled.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

Turning her head she looked up at him "Did you ever see a future together, I mean before you got sent to prison?"

"I did, we had been together for almost a year and I knew then that someday I wanted you to be my wife, I knew I wanted to spend my whole life with you..." he trailed off "I wanted to be the father of your kids, but I guess I already got that one covered" he said causing her to let out a small chuckle.

"Kids ey?" she questioned "You wanted more than one?"

Cameron started to stutter slightly and she could see the panic on his face "Hey, it's okay, I'm not complaining, we already got one" she told him as she smiled humorously at him.

"What, you wouldn't be against the idea of having more kids?" he asked her.

"No" she shrugged "Just not now, but I would love to have more kids with you" she smiled "Plus with make pretty awesome kids" she joked causing him to laugh.

"Well, there is that" he winked as he pulled her top over her head and pushed her back until she was laying on the couch, he started tickling her sides "Cameron, Cam... Stop It" she said between gasps.

He continued tickling her before moving his hands down her body.

He placed his hands on her hipbones as he started gently caressing the skin there before looking up at her and giving her a crooked smile.

Moving his hands further down until they landed on her thigh he suddenly stopped his movements and looked up at her.

"Cameron" she said with frustration.

"What?" he asked innocently as he went to pull away but she stopped him "Don't you dare" she warned causing him to chuckle softly "You told me to stop" he told her with an evil grin.

"I meant stop tickling me" she almost shouted in annoyance.

He quickly leant forward and kissed her before pulling away "Tell me what you want"

"You know what I want" she said through gritted teeth "Don't tease" she pouted.

"You gotta play the game to get the prize" he winked causing her to huff in frustration, leaning forward he placed his lips close to her ear "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you" he seductively whispered which sent a shiver running down her spine "Cam..." she moaned.

Pulling back once more he looked at her before she pulled him back, grabbing his hand she placed it where she wanted it "Just touch me" she whispered.

"Where?" he asked, pulling his hand away slightly and she knew he was going to make her beg for it "Everywhere" she snapped as she arched her back up trying to get him to touch her.

Learning forward he captured her lips in a rough kiss before kissing down her body, his hands and lips worked on her body making her moan his name.

He kissed down her body until he got to the button of her jeans, quickly flicking the button undone he freed her from her jeans and panties as his lips continued working lower and lower "Cam... Oh, Fuck" she moaned as her hands flew into his short brown locks "Fuck" she hissed "I love you so much" she said as she writhed underneath him.

She pulled at his hair slightly signalling she wanted more so he got off her and stood up, quickly stripping himself of his clothes.

"Maybe we should go upstairs" she said as he was about to take his trousers off.

"I can't wait that long" he said as he took his trousers off and stood naked in front of her with a smirk.

Climbing back on top of her he joint their lips in a passionate kiss before slowly entering her making her cry out his name.

...

They lay on the sofa practically naked; the only thing covering them was a thin sheet.

Good job Tegan and Ste didn't walk in" Cameron said causing Leela to roll her eyes before looking at him and smiling "Ste's gone to take the kids to see Mike and Tegan's gone to stay with my Aunt Sally for a while"


	34. Chapter 34

It was Monday morning and Peri was upstairs getting ready for school while Leela and Cameron were downstairs waiting for her.

Leela had just finished getting Peri some toast and cereal ready for her breakfast and Cameron was sat on the settee seemingly without a care in the world as Leela was panicking because she didn't think Peri was ready to go back yet.

"Pez, are you ready?" Leela called upstairs "I got you some breakfast ready"

Upstairs Peri wiped her damp eyes and she looked in the mirror, she brushed her hair back and put it up in a high bun so it was out of the way before making her way out of her room and downstairs.

"Ready" she called as she walked down the stairs.

"Breakfast is on the table" Leela told her.

"I'm fine" she said as she picked her bag and lunch money up from the table and headed for the door.

"You need to eat" Cameron told her causing her to look at him then to her Mum "I'm not hungry" she carried on walking.

"Where are you going?" Leela asked.

"To school" Peri replied in a 'duh' tone.

"It's not even eight yet" Leela commented.

"I'm going to meet Tom, then we're going to meet up with Nico" Peri said and before anyone could reply she was out of the door.

Cameron got up from the couch and walked over to Leela, wrapping his arms around her waist he placed a light kiss to her temple as he pulled her in to his embrace "Do you think she's okay?" Leela mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah" Cameron said as he tried to assure her while also trying to assure himself at the same time "She'll tell us if she's not"

"Yeah" she said with uncertainty "You're right, I shouldn't worry so much" he could tell she had her doubts still "Hey, you only worry because you are such a great Mum, you're amazing. After everything she's been through it's only natural to worry" he told her gently.

She sank further into his embrace as they stood in the kitchen "But you aren't worried" she stated.

"I am" he whispered into her hair before placing a kiss to the top of her head "You know me, I just ain't so good at showing it but I do worry. I am worried"

Leela stayed silent for a couple of minutes before looking up at his face "I love you" she sighed, leaning up to place a kiss on his lips "She'll be okay, you're right, she's got her friends, this is want she wanted, I have to accept it" she paused "She's not my little girl anymore, she never was" she admitted sadly.

"Hey, she is still you little girl and she always has been, she's always been you baby" he placing his hand over her heart "In here, she's always been your little girl" he told her firmly.

She smiled sadly at him "Babe, I've got to go into work this afternoon" he told her.

"Okay" she said sorrowfully, he could tell what was bothering her now; he knew her so well "Hey" he touched her cheek softy "You'll get your job back, they only suspended you. I am certain you'll be back in no time" he told her.

"What if I'm not?" she asked "I loved that job"

"I know, but if the worse happens you'll just have to find another job, but they'll be a fool to lose you. You're amazing at what you do and you saved that little girl. That's what you do, you save people" he said as he saw she was going to say something.

"No, no buts okay, it will be fine" he said with passion "Plus, you don't need to worry, you've got me, I will always look after you and Peri no matter what"

"You have no idea how much I love you" she said, looking up at him.

"If it's half as much as I love you then I do" he told her, pulling her into a kiss.

...

Cameron lay sprawled out on the couch as he wore his work uniform; he was due in work in 15 minutes.

Leela walked down the stairs and smiled at him before walking over to him.

"Hey" she said as she climbed on top of him, placing her legs either side of him "Hey yourself" he said as he grinned up at her "You know, you look very handsome in that uniform" she said as she fingered the black buttons on his white chefs jacket "Yeah, I have to fight the women off" he joked causing her to slap him across the chest.

Grabbing her hands in his he sat up and leant forward, quickly capturing her lips "Don't worry" he mumbled as her pulled back "I only have eyes for you" he said before carefully extract himself from underneath her "I best be off" giving her one last peck on the lips he left for work.

About 5 minutes after he had left the phone rang so Leela got up and answered it "Hello"

"Miss Lomax" came Patrick's voice "I think you should come down to the school now"

Leela panicked "Is Peri okay?" she asked in a hurry.

"She's fine, well she's physical fine, but I think it was too early for her to come back..."

The tone of his voice worried her "What happened?" she practically shouted down the phone.

"There's been an incident with her and Nico" Patrick said.

"Nico" she uttered in surprise.

"Yes, please could you just come down here now and it'll be easier to explain, also Peri is quite upset and no one can seem to calm her down"

"Okay" she said before slamming the phone down, she didn't even stop to think as she rushed out of the door; she only just remembered to grab her keys before the door slammed shut.

She rushed to the school; she didn't bother to take her car as it would be quicker to walk.

_I knew it was too soon. I shouldn't have let her go back; but she wanted to go back, I was just doing what she wanted. This is my fault. I should have said no; _All these thoughts went through her mind as she walked with urgency to where her daughter was.


	35. Chapter 35

Leela walked into the school where she saw Patrick who slowly took his phone from his ear "Peri has gone"

"What do you mean gone?" Leela asked "You just let her go?"

"No, she just ran off, I was about to ring you..." Patrick began.

"So you have no idea where she's gone?" Leela asked him.

"Well, Tom's also gone so I suspect they are together, Tom is a sensible boy but Peri was in a right state"

"What happened with her and Nico?" Leela questioned as she wondered what her daughter had done so bad for him to call her.

"Peri lashed out at Nico..." Patrick began to explain.

"What? No, she wouldn't do that" Leela said in shock "No, Pez wouldn't hurt anyone"

"I think she became overwhelmed, some kids were saying something about her and she just lost it" Patrick said.

"But why would she hit Nico?" Leela asked as she didn't understand.

"I don't know, Nico was with Peri at the time, maybe she felt threatened" Patrick said "Look, I know what it can be like after a big operation like she had, I'm going to let it go but I want Peri to take some time off, Nico doesn't want her to get in trouble, she's been very understanding but if this happened again I won't be so easy on her, this school doesn't tolerate violence"

"I understand..."

"Why don't you go and see if you can find your daughter and if you see Tom tell him he's in a lot of trouble"

"Okay" Leela said as she got her phone out and dialled Peri's number, walking out of the school exit she left the school as he phone just rang and rang until eventually it rang out.

Leela sighed as she thought where would her daughter be.

Heading in the direction of the folly she hoped to find Peri there but when she got there, there was no sign of her so she turned around.

She thought maybe she was with Tom so she decided to ring him but then she realised she didn't have his number so she ran off in the direction of the pub hoping to find her daughter there.

...

"Hey Jack, is Peri here? I can't find her anywhere and I'm worried" Leela said as she entered the quiet pub.

"She's upstairs with Tom, Tom brought her in, she was in a right state, poor girl" Jack told Leela "Go up"

"Thanks" Leela rushed up the stairs to the flat and knocked on the door.

She waited for a while before to door came open and Tom stood there with the phone in his hand.

"Leela" he said happily.

"Is Peri here?" she asked with slight anger to her voice.

"Yes, I was going to ring you" Tom said as Leela stepped inside "Where is she?" she asked.

Tom pointed to his closed bedroom door "You're in a lot of trouble for running out of school like that" she told him.

"I know" he sighed "She just ran off and I just ran after her, she was so upset, I didn't know what to do"

"I know" Leela said as a faint smile ghost over her lips as she walked towards the door and slowly opened it to see Peri curled in a ball on Tom's bed.

Leela approached the bed and put her hand on her daughter's side causing her to jump slightly "Hey baby" she whispered causing Peri to roll over and look at her and smile weakly "I'm sorry" she croaked out as her eyes were all puffy and red "Am I in trouble?" she asked faintly.

"No, you're not in trouble but Patrick thinks you need to stay off school" Leela told her carefully.

"He's suspending me?" she asked as she started to cry.

"No baby" Leela stroked her daughter's hair in a soothing manner "He just thinks it's too soon and so do I"

Peri nodded "I'm sorry Mum" she sat up and throw her arms around her Mum's neck, hugging her "I love you" she said before pulling back.

"I love you too baby girl" Leela said as a silence fell between them before she spoke again "Why didn't you come home or wait at school for me to come and pick you up?"

"I was scared, I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do" Peri cried "You were right, it was too soon, I should have listened to you and Dad" she admitted as she looked at her Mum who gave her a small smile.

"These two boys stated calling me names and saying I was messed up because of my brain tumour, they said I was a freak and in English the teacher asked me to read in front of the whole class and I lost my place and the teacher yelled at me, said I wasn't listening but I was, I really was Mum then one of the boys kept throwing paper at me when the teacher left the room and I just lost it" Peri explained in a rush "I didn't mean to hurt Nico" she sobbed.

"Hey, it's okay, you shouldn't have done it but she understands, so does Mr Blake, you just need time to properly recover, mentally and physically. You've been through a lot" Leela squeezed her daughter's hand in reassurance.

"Mum, can I stay here with Tom?"

"No baby you need to come home, plus Tom needs to go back to school" Leela said.

"Is he in trouble because of me?" Peri asked.

"Don't worry about that, Tom was just looking out for you like a good boyfriend does" Leela said causing Peri to grin "Come on, shall we go home?" Leela asked and Peri nodded seemingly much happier now.

Peri got off the bed and looked at her Mum "Will Dad be mad?" she asked with uncertainty.

"No, I promise, he'll understand" Leela said as she placed a softy kiss to the top of her daughters head "He's at work at the minute, he'll be back about six"

"Okay" Peri said as they walked from Tom's room, Peri saw him in the kitchen "Let me go say bye to Tom" she told her Mum "I'll wait downstairs, but be quick" Peri nodded and Leela walked off.

Peri walked over to Tom and smiled at him "Thank you"

"What for?" he asked.

"For being an amazing boyfriend" she told him with a smile "I love you"

"Love you too" Tom replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek "Have you got to go?"

"Yeah" she told him "And I won't be at school for a while because it's too soon, after today I know that now"

"I'll come see you after school" Tom said "And I'll text you and we can see each other on the weekends"

"Yeah" she smiled "About what I said in the hospital, about you know..." she looked at him "about sleeping together, I meant it, I want to, I love you and I want to show you how much" she told him before walking away leaving him stood in the kitchen staring after her; he did want to, of course he did, but he was just worried it was too soon, they were only fourteen, was they ready for that? plus after all she's been though he just wasn't sure she was ready.


	36. Chapter 36

A few days had passed and Leela had explained to Cameron about Peri and what had happened.

Right now Peri was laid on the settee with her head resting on her Mum's lap as she had a bit of a headache.

"Mum, is it okay if Tom comes over after school?" she asked as she looked at her phone, seeing it was already half two; Tom would be finished school soon and she would be able to see him.

"Sure, he can stop for tea if he likes" Leela told her as she stroked her hair.

Peri sat up and grinned at her Mum "Really, that's great, I'll text him now" she said as she got off of the couch and ran upstairs.

Leela watched Peri go with thought before looking down at her watch and sighing; Cameron was at work and she was so bored, she wanted to go back to work but she was still suspended.

Reaching for the television remote she leant back on the couch as she flicked the television on, going through the channels until final settling on something half decent to watch.

...

"Where are you going?" Leela asked her daughter as she came down the stairs all dressed up wearing one of her dresses with her dark pink jacket.

"I'm going to meet Tom from school" Peri said as she continued to the door.

"Okay, but your coming straight back right?" Leela questioned.

"We were going to go to the folly for a bit, just hang out" Peri told her Mum.

"Okay, but don't be too long please" Leela told her "Is Tom stopping for his tea then?"

"Yeah" Peri said before walking out of the door, shouting a quick bye as she left the house.

...

Peri sat on a wall waiting for Tom to come out of school.

Looking up she saw Nico coming out of the gates "Hey" Peri said as she jumped of the wall "I'm so sorry" she said as she walked over to her "Are you okay?" she questioned her friend as she looked at the small scratch on her cheek.

"I'm fine" Nico said with a smile "I know you have been though a lot and I get it"

"But I still shouldn't have hit you" Peri protested causing Nico to shrug.

"I'm over it, anyway what are you doing here?" Nico asked.

"I'm waiting for Tom" Peri told her friend.

"I saw him in the corridor, he should be out in a minute" Nico said "Anyway I best be off, Mum said she has a surprise for me" Nico smiled "See ya"

"Bye" Peri replied as she hugged Nico quickly as she saw Tom coming out of the school doors.

"Hey" Tom said as he approached her, kissing her on the cheek before pulling back.

"Hey, missed you" Peri said.

Tom and Peri hadn't seen each other since the incident with her at school on Monday; it was now Friday, Mr Blake had given him four after school detentions for running off, which was a bit harsh, but it was Mr Blake so that was to be expected. Patrick often picked and choosed what he took seriously and what he didn't, but most people know that Patrick was a strange man.

"Missed you too, so we going back to yours?"

"No, let's go to the folly for a bit, just hang out" Peri said.

"Okay" Tom agreed and they headed off to the folly together.

"You look really nice by the way" Tom said after a while of walking.

"Thanks" Peri smiled as she stopped walked and leant forward, pecking him on the lips.

Tom smiled at Peri as he thought how beautiful he looked and he never thought he would feel like this about someone at this age, but when Peri came into his life she just took him by surprise and he fell for her hard and fast.

"I love you so much Peri" he said.

"I love you too" she smiled as they got to the folly and sat down on the bench just talking and being together.

Tom stared at his girlfriend as she spoke before catching her eyes "What?" she asked as she saw him staring at her.

"Did you mean what you said the other day?" he asked nervously.

"Of course" she smiled at him "Why, don't you want to?"

"Babe, are you sure you're ready?" he asked with a shaky voice as he knew what Peri was like and he didn't want her to think he was rejecting her, but he needed to be sure about this; maybe they should wait?

"I'm sure Tom" she said with a soft smile.

"Maybe we should wait" he told her.

"What? You want to?" she asked, she sounded hurt "I mean if you want to" she replied in a whisper.

"I just think you've been though a lot, I just want to make sure you're ready" he told her.

"I am ready" she said firmly "Tom, I want this, don't you?"

Tom nodded "Yeah, but don't you think we're too young, shouldn't we wait?"

"No TOM" she raised her voice slightly "I don't want to wait, we love each other, so why shouldn't we do this"

Tom didn't speak so Peri continued "If you don't want to then fine, we can wait but I am ready, I love you Tom and I want to do this with you"

Tom listened to his girlfriend as he thought about what she was saying.

"Okay" he said.

Peri beamed at him "You mean it?" she asked.

"Yeah, if you're sure, I want to" he said.

Peri leaned in and kissed him before looking at her phone "We best get back, Mum told us not to be too long"

Tom stood up and held his hand out for Peri to take; helping her up, he stole one last kiss before they began to head back to her house.

...

"We're back" Peri shouted as she let her and Tom into the house.

"Oh" Leela appeared from the top of the stairs "Hey" she said as she came down, smoothing her hair down with her fingers.

"Are you okay?" Peri asked as she noticed her Mum looked flushed "Yeah, I'm fine" she replied quickly as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Is Dad home yet?" Peri asked as she followed her into the kitchen.

"Yeah, he finished early" Leela told her.

"Where is he?" Peri asked.

"Um, er... I think he was going to take a shower" Leela said as she stumbled over her words a bit.

"Okay, when's tea going to be ready?"

"Your Dad's going to go and get pizza later" Leela told her.

"Cool, well me and Tom are going to go to my room" Peri said, grabbing Tom and heading upstairs.


	37. Chapter 37

It was now Saturday morning and after persuading their parents and guardians Tom was allowed to stay over for the whole weekend; Nancy, Darren and Leela where all fine wilh it because Tom was sleeping on the floor in Peri's room but Cameron, well he took a bit of gentle persuading from Leela for him to begrudgingly agree.

The sun came though Peri's curtains which caused Tom to wake first, then Peri.

Morning" she smiled as she sat up sleepily "How was the floor?"

"It was alright, comfort" he said causing her to giggle.

"No it wasn't, you liar" she told him, crawling from under her covers and laying so she could see over the side of her bed to his makeshift bed that lay on her floor "So, what do you fancy doing today?" she asked him and he shrugged.

"Cinema?" she asked him with an enthusiastic grin "We could do" he said as he leant up and went to kiss her but she put her hand over her mouth "Morning breath" she mumbled.

"I don't care" he said as he tried to prise her hand away from her mouth but she wouldn't let up him so he attacked her with tickles making her laugh and wiggle, trying to get out of his reach, she ended up falling head first from the bed but luckily he caught her so she didn't hit the floor that hard.

She landed on top of him and just stayed there giggling causing him to laugh too.

"I told you something's going on" came an angry voice before her bedroom door flew open "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" he shouted.

"Nothing, I just fell off the bed" she told her Dad.

"And how did you fall off the bed?" he asked as he looked between the two teenagers on the floor.

"Um, Tom was tickling me" she told him.

"Right" her Dad replied sarcastically.

"It's true Dad" she sighed, getting up from the floor "Nothing happened, I just fell"

"And why were you laughing?" he asked.

"I don't know Dad" she shouted "Seriously..." before she could say anymore Tom awkwardly left the room to go to the bathroom "We were just messing about" she told her Dad as she watched Tom go.

"Yeah that's what worries me" her Dad muttered under his breath but she heard and scoffed, before she could say anything Leela appeared, seeing Cameron's angry face she glanced at her daughter and saw her glaring at him "Are you okay?" she asked to no one in particular "NO" Peri shouted "He comes in here accusing me of all sorts, god I wouldn't do that and even if we were going to you couldn't stop us"

Leela looked at her daughter in shock then she looked at Cameron who looked extremely mad "Cameron, just calm down yeah" Leela whispered close to his ear, putting her hand on his lower shoulder to try to calm him down "I'll deal with this" she said, telling Cameron to go downstairs.

Once he had left the room Leela looked at her daughter causing her to roll her eyes "What?" she asked.

"You know what, you are deliberately winding your Dad up" Leela said as she stepped into the room and shut the door.

"No I'm not" Peri argued.

"So what was all that 'even if we were going to you couldn't stop us" about?" Leela asked her daughter.

"Nothing, I was just saying" Peri said.

"Pez, you're fourteen" Leela said, taking her hand and leading them to the bed so they were now sat on the end of her bed.

"Yeah and..." Peri looked at her Mum "I love him, you didn't wait"

Leela sighed "Yeah and look what happened to me"

"So you're saying you wish you never had me" Peri said in a raised voice.

"I'm not saying that at all, you know how much I love you but being pregnant at fourteen wasn't the plan, I wish I waited, yes, but I don't regret it because if I did I wouldn't have you" Leela said.

"Yeah..." Peri paused and thought for a second "Well I'm not going to get pregnant"

Leela sighed as she looked at her daughter "I've thought about it and you can't stop us, we love each other" Peri said.

"Fine, but just know your Dad ain't going to be happy and I'm noting going to be there to save you from his lectures"

"Fine" Peri said firmly.

"Look Peri, you're only a kid, you should wa..." Peri cut her Mum off "Mum already gave me the birds and the bees talk and all that, talk about embarrassing, but I get it"

Leela knew she meant Sam when she said Mum and that was finally okay with her because she had her daughter back and after all her Mum and Dad had brought her daughter up to be the amazing person she is now and for that she would always be grateful for.

"Look, we have this thing called Sex Education in school, I'm not some clueless kid" Peri said "We'll be safe, I promise"

Leela looked at her daughter, knowing that her mind was already made up and she wouldn't budge, so what else could she do? She could hardly stop her and Tom seeing each other, they go to the same school, I mean if they are that sure about this then they would find a way.

"Fine, but I'm getting you a Doctor's appointment and we're getting you put on the pill" Leela said before getting up and walking to the door.

"Okay Mum, you won't tell Dad though will you?"

"No, but you should" Leela said, turning to face her daughter.

"You know how mad he will get..."

"And if you don't tell him and he finds out he will be even madder" Leela said causing Peri to sigh "Look, he'll be mad at first but he'll calm down...hopefully" she added.

"Fine" Peri said "Can you get out now so I can get changed?"

Leela nodded as she looked at Peri for a moment before walking out the room.

Leela walked downstairs to see Cameron glaring at Tom "Cam, leave the poor boy alone" she said "They weren't doing anything"

"I knew it was a bad idea to let him sleepover, but you persuaded me" he said with a frown "He's not stopping tonight, he can go home, I don't trust them"

"DAD!" Peri shouted as she walked downstairs.

"He's not staying Peri" he warned causing Peri to let out a frustrated scream "Fine, come on Tom"

"Where are you going?" Leela asked.

"To the park and you can't stop us" Peri said as she grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him to the door.

Leela placed her hand on Cameron's chest to hold him back "Just let them go" she said gently "If you stop her seeing Tom see will just do it behind our backs"

Cameron watched as the two teenagers left the house, he was angry and Leela knew when he was in this kind of mood just to leave him to it "What did she say to you up there?" he asked.

"Speak to her tonight, but you need to stay calm and hear her out" Leela said before walking into the kitchen.

...

Tom and Peri decided to go back to his after the park because Peri didn't want to see her Dad.

When they arrived at the pub Frankie was behind to bar so they just headed up "Hey Frankie" Peri said as they walked past.

"Oh, hey kids" Frankie said as she smiled warmly before serving her next customer.

Once they walked into the flat they sat on the couch "Wanna play a game?" Tom asked as he held a controller out for her "Sure" she said as she took the controller and they started playing.

They played two races which Peri won before Peri paused the game "I told Mum and she's okay with it" she said, looking at Tom.

"What, she is?" he asked in shock "What about your Dad?"

"Well, I told her she can't stop us" she shrugged "And I am not telling Dad, he'd kill us. Anyway he can't stop us"

Tom was quiet for a minute as he looked at his girlfriend.

"You still want to right?" she asked.

Tom nodded before leaning forward and kissing her "I want to" he told her as he pulled back from the kiss.

"Good" she said, smiling at him "Have you got the condoms?" she had asked Tom to get the condoms so he had been to get them after school one day; he had gone into town to get them because he didn't want anyone to see him.

"Yeah"

We can't do it at mine because of Dad, he'll be too suspicious" she told him.

"Okay, well everyone's out tomorrow so you can come here" Tom said causing her to smile.

"I wish you could stay again tonight, sometimes Dad can be so annoying" she rolled her eyes "So tomorrow yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll text you when everyone leaves" he said.

"Okay, well I probably ought to go home, see if Dads calmed down" she told him.

"I'll walk you" he offered and she smiled "You don't have to" she said, getting up and walking to the door.

"I want to" he said and followed her to the door "I need to get me stuff from yours anyway"

"Okay" she agreed and they both left the flat.

...

Peri and Tom arrived at the door of her house, they stood there for a second as Peri listened to see if she could hear her Dad before opening the door to see her Mum in the kitchen "Hey" she called "Just go upstairs and get your stuff" she told Tom.

"Hey Pez" Leela said, turning to face her.

"Is Dad here?" Peri asked.

"No, he just popped into work but he'll be back soon and he's not in a good mood" Leela said.

"Okay, well Tom's just come to get his stuff" Peri said as she walked upstairs.


	38. Chapter 38

Cameron had tried to talk to Peri later that night but it just turned into an argument, now it was Sunday morning as Peri ran down the stairs and headed for the door but her Dad stopped her "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see Tom" she said.

"NO YOU'RE NOT" he shouted firmly.

Peri glared at her Dad "You can't stop me" she shouted as she continued to the door.

"Stop where you are" Cameron called as he walked over to the door, but Peri didn't listen and she just opened it anyway "Peri, don't test me" he said as he slammed the door shut, stopping her going out of it "Why are you being like this?" Peri screamed in frustration before running back upstairs.

Just as Peri was running into her room Leela walked out of the bathroom "What's up?" she asked as she noticed her daughters angry expression.

"It's Dad, he won't let me go and see Tom" Peri moaned, hoping her Mum would see things differently.

"Maybe he's right, maybe you need some time off from each other" Leela said.

"WHAT?! No" Peri shouted before her Mum walked off "I HATE YOU" Peri screamed before going into her room and slamming the door.

...

Peri had been in her room for a while and neither Leela nor Cameron had heard a peep out of her so they presumed she was asleep or watching a DVD or something.

"Cam" Leela spoke gently "Maybe we should just let her go and see him"

"And let her get up to all sorts" Cameron said "She's fourteen"

"I know, but she loves him, she's just going to hate us if we stop her seeing him" she told him.

"It's for her own good, I am not letting Tom take advantage of my little girl" he said causing her to sigh "He won't, he would never hurt Peri and he would never make her do anything she doesn't want to do" she said "Look, do you have any idea how much of a hypocrite I sound when I tell her not to have sex with him" she said in frustration "I can hardly tell her to wait when I didn't"

"Yeah and look what happened there" he replied "I'm going to speak to her" he said, getting up and heading upstairs.

"Cam, just leave her..." Leela called after him as he disappeared.

Leela sat on the couch waiting for screams and shouts but they never came as she heard someone rush down the stairs.

"She's GONE" Cameron spat, heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" Leela asked, jumping up and following him out of the door "I'm going to get her" he said through gritted teeth.

"Cam don't, she's just going to hate you, please leave her" Leela begged as he walking ahead of her.

"NO" he said angrily before storming off.

Leela let out a frustrated sigh as she followed after him.

...

Cameron stormed into the pub and found the barmaid working the bar; he stormed upstairs ignoring the calls of his name.

"He..." the barmaid began shouting "Sorry" Leela said, coming in and walking up to the flat.

She found Cameron banging on the door but no one answered it "Peri I know you're in there, open up" he shouted.

"Cameron, please stop, please, just leave her" Leela shouted as she pleaded with him to stop it.

She grabbed his arm trying to get him to stop "Get off" he said "Peri, open this door now"

"She's not going to come out when you're like this" Leela said.

Suddenly to door came open and Peri walked out looking edgy "Are you alright?" Leela asked but Peri just looked at her Dad "Sorry, let's go home"

"Where's Tom?" Leela asked and Peri shrugged.

Peri just walked past her parents and down the stairs as Cameron followed her.

Leela stood there as she stared after her daughter before looking back at the open door then back to where her daughter disappeared to; something was up; Peri seemed weird to her.

...

Arriving home Peri went to go upstairs but Cameron spoke "Why did you sneak out?" he asked, trying to keep calm.

Peri glared at him before replying "Because I wanted to see Tom"

"I told you that you couldn't" he said and Peri laughed humorously "Of course I was going to sneak out, are you really that stupid? I was gone for over an hour and you didn't even notice" she taunted.

Leela just watched her daughter as she had never seen her act like this before, not even when she had the brain tumour and had her mood swings "Do you even care?" Peri spat before running upstairs.

"Of course I care" Cameron yelled after her as she disappeared.

Leela sighed heavily "I'll go and speak to her in a minute"

"You're too soft on her" he said.

"And you're too hard on her" she said as she walked upstairs.

"So you want her to end up pregnant do you?" he called after her making her turn around halfway up the stairs.

"No, of course not" she said angrily as she paused for a second "Look I can't talk to you when your like this"

"I just don't want our daughter making mistakes" he told her.

"The same mistakes I did" she concluded.

"That's not what I said" he told her as his eyes softened slightly.

"Look..." she sighed "I don't want to argue, I'm going to speak to Peri okay" and with that she was gone.

...

Leela knocked on Peri's bedroom door but got no answer "It's me" she called out but still no answer "Peri hunnie, it's just me, please open up"

Peri sat in her room in the middle of the bed, she sat crossed legged with her hands in her lap as she wondered what to do...


	39. Chapter 39

Peri got up and opened the door before going back to her place on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Leela asked as she came to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Nothing's wrong, why would anything be wrong?" Peri said quickly, avoiding eye contact with her Mum.

"Peri, why did you sneak off to Tom's when your Dad told you that you couldn't go?" Leela asked.

"Because I wanted to see him and Dad was being unfair" Peri shouted, looking up at her Mum for the first time.

Suddenly Peri broke into tears as she looked at her Mum "I'm sorry" she sobbed "Please don't be angry"

"Peri, did something happen?" Leela questioned as she feared what her daughter was going to say.

She nodded weakly "We were safe" she whispered as she averted her eyes back to her hands that rested in her lap.

"Peri" Leela sighed "Your Dad is going to go mental, you know that right?"

Peri nodded again as she tried to speak "Mum..." she said, looking up but avoiding her Mum's eyes "What is it?" Leela asked causing Peri to let out a pained sob "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid..." Peri repeated in a whisper as she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Peri, tell me what happened?" Leela said as she caught her arm and stopped her hitting herself.

"I'm tired" Peri said vacantly as she crawled up her bed and laid down, facing away from her Mum "Okay, get some rest, but you need to talk to me, I can help" Leela walked to the door "Remember I love you no matter what"

"Mum, wait..." Peri called, sitting up as she looked at her Mum "The condom... it... it, it split, I don't..." she fell over her words as she began to cry again "I don't know what to do Mum, what if I'm pregnant, you know it only takes ones"

Leela walked over to her daughter and hugged her "We'll sort it out"

"You...You're not mad?" Peri stammered.

"Well I'm not happy but what's done is done" Leela said half-heartedly "It'll be okay"

"No it won't, Dad is going to freak" Peri said.

"Well yeah, he will, but he'll calm down eventually, he loves you no matter what, he just cares so much, that's why he gets so mad, he just doesn't want you to get hurt" Leela said with a soft smile "Now dry your eyes and come downstairs, I'll make you something to eat, then we need to go into town to get you the morning after pill and I'm getting you put on the pill"

"Don't worry, I'm not having sex again for alone time" Peri said.

"That'll be peace of mind for your Dad then" Leela joked "But just in case I will get you put on it, I'll make you a Doctor's appointment this afternoon"

Leela went to leave the room but Peri stopped her "Thanks Mum" she smiled.

...

Peri walked downstairs to see her Mum and Dad sitting on the couch talking, as soon as they heard her on the stairs they stopped talking and turned to face her.

"Hey, I made you a sandwich, it's on the side" Leela said and Peri went to get it as she mumbled a thanks.

After getting her sandwich she headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Leela questioned.

"I'm going to eat this upstairs" Peri said but Leela protested "No, stay down here"

Peri walked to the chair and plonked herself down before looking towards her Dad who was staring intently at her.

"What?" she asked him.

"You're Mum told me..." he started.

"She did. What did she tell you?" Peri asked in a panic.

"I just told him that I'm putting you on the pill" Leela interrupted "I had to tell him, he asked me, what was I meant to say"

"I DON'T KNOW" Peri shouted "Anything but that"

"Look Peri, I'm not going to shout at you" Cameron sighed "I'm not happy about it, but I have to accept it I guess. I just want you to be careful okay, I don't want to think of my little girl... well you know..."

"Okay Dad" Peri rolled her eyes, just wanting to go upstairs.

Suddenly Peri's phone began to ring, looking at the screen she saw it was Tom; she didn't know whether to answer it or not but she decided she should.

She ran upstairs before Leela or Cameron could say anything and Leela felt Cameron tense slightly "It might not be Tom" she offered softly but she knew it was probably likely to be him and so did he but she just wanted her to stay calm.

"Of course it's him" Cameron said as he tried to calm himself down "I just don't want her making mistakes that she will regret"

"I know" Leela replied, placing a gently kiss to his lips before pulling back "I've spoken to her and she knows what she's doing, she's going to sleep with him no matter what we say so we might as well make sure she's safe"

Cameron just grunted in response as he wasn't happy thinking about his little girl like that but he needed to find a way to just not think about it and trust both her and Leela.

"Fine" he gave in before standing up and going into the kitchen.

Leela walked upstairs to find Peri sat on her bed "Hey" she said, walking up to the door "Was that Tom?"

"Yeah..." Peri said "It was a bit awkward as you can imagine, he just wanted to make sure I was okay"

"What did you say?" Leela asked.

"I said I will be" Peri told her Mum "You didn't tell Dad about..." she trailed off "You know..."

"No, I didn't tell him" Leela said, walking into her daughter's room and sitting next to her "I think it's best to not tell him, as long as you promise to be careful, and I really don't like the idea of you having sex but if you are going to I'd rather you be safe"

"I know Mum" Peri rolled her eyes, not wanting to talk about it "So when are we going to town?"

"Soon, just give me 20 minutes and we'll be off, also I got you a Doctor's appointment for tomorrow"

"Okay, thanks Mum" Peri smiled faintly before watching her Mum leave the room.


	40. Chapter 40

_What if I am pregnant? _Peri thought as she sat in her room; _I should have waited, oh my god, I might be pregnant; _Peri started to breathe heavily as she started to panic...

_If I am pregnant Mum can look after it like Nan did for me; NO, I'm not going to be pregnant; _her mind thought of all the different scenarios; maybe she was thinking too far ahead, but knowing what her Mum went though with her made her fear the worst; _what if I end up a teenage Mum? _

A knock on the door sounded before her Mum pushed the door open "Ready?" she questioned with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, let me just put my shoes on and grab my coat" Peri said, getting up.

"Okay, I'll wait downstairs" Leela said as Peri nodded

Peri put her shoes on quickly and grabbed her jacket before leaving her room and hurrying downstairs.

Looking around she couldn't see her Dad "Where's Dad?"

"He went to pick Tegan and Rose up from the train station" Leela said "Come on, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with" Peri sighed, walking to the door and going out of it as her Mum followed her.

...

Leela walked up to Boots as she noticed her daughter had stopped walking so she turned around "Come on"

Peri shook her head "I can't"

"Peri" Leela walked over to her daughter "You have to, Peri you made the decision, you have to face the consciences"

"Mum, what if..." she whispered as her voice broke off.

"What?" Leela asked.

"What if I'm pregnant?" Peri asked in a whisper.

"Peri, look if we get you this tablet now it will give you the best chance, you need to do it now"

Peri didn't move so Leela decided she needed to try a bit of tough love.

"PERI" she shouted "Do you want to be a teenage Mum? Look what happened to me" Leela snapped before softening her voice slightly "Look, I don't regret having you but it wasn't easy, none of it was easy... I just don't want you to go through the same"

"Okay, let's go" Peri said, taking a deep breath she started walking forward.

When they got into the shop they went to the pharmacy bit and of course Peri had to have a consultation before they gave it to her, because she was underage they would only give it to her with Leela's consent so Leela had to sign a form then they gave it to her.

As the lady handed Peri the small pill she asked her to take a seat as she explained what it would do and any side effects that comes with it.

Peri put the pill into her month before taking a sip of water and swallowing it as the lady watched her before leaving the room to give her some privacy to speak to her Mum.

"So, I won't get pregnant now?" Peri asked, standing up.

"You heard the lady, there is a very small chance that it will be ineffective" Leela said "But the chances are so small and because you got it so fast it's more likely to work" she told her daughter who looked anxious "It's good that you got it so early" walking over to her daughter she squeezed her hand in reassurance before leading her out of the room.

As they left the small room the lady who saw to them gave Leela a disapproving look "Stupid cow" Leela muttered under her breath before continuing out of the shop with Peri.

They walked to the bus stop in silence before suddenly Peri started crying "Pez, what's wrong?"

"I love you Mum" she sobbed causing tears to come to Leela's eyes "I love you too" she said, reaching out and hugging her.

"Did you tell Dad where we're going?" Peri asked.

"I told him I needed to pop to the shops and that you wanted to come with me" Leela said.

"Okay" Peri said as they stood waiting for the bus to arrive.

...

Arriving back home an hour later Peri went upstairs to her room as Cameron hadn't arrived back with Tegan and Rose yet.

As she walking into her room so decided she should ring Tom so she got her phone from her pocket and dialled his number.

"Hi" he answered.

"Hey Tom, I'm just ringing you to let you know it's all sorted" she said.

"Does your Dad know?" he asked on the other end.

"No" she said quickly "He'd kill me"

"No, he'd kill me" he said causing her to let out a small chuckle "He'd kill us both" she said.

"Anyway, do you want to come over?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to stay here" she told him.

"Peri, we don't have to do anything" he said.

"I know, I just think I should stay here, look I'll text you later" she said "Love you" then she hung up quickly before throwing her phone onto her bed.

...

Peri was downstairs sat on the couch with her Mum as the door opened and Tegan came in pushing Rose in her buggy followed by Cameron.

"TEGAN" Peri said happily, rushing over to hug her "I missed you"

"I missed you too" Tegan said as Peri pulled back from the hug and tickled Rose under the chin "Hi Rosie" she said in a babyish voice as she pulled a face at the young infant causing her the giggle.

"Hey Sis" Tegan called to Leela before Cameron spoke up "Hey, who fancies pizza and a movie tonight?"

"Sure" Leela said, looking at Peri "How about it?"

"Yeah, might as well" Peri shrugged before running upstairs.

"What's up with her?" Tegan asked, looking at her Sister who gave her a firm look that told her not to ask "Okay, well movie and pizza sounds great"

"Great" Cameron said "Did you get what you wanted from town?" he asked Leela.

"No, they didn't have it" she lied, quickly changing the subject.

"So how was Aunt Sally?" Leela asked her sister.

"Well she's as lovely as ever" Tegan said, pulling a face causing Leela to laugh "Still the same then" she said between laughter.

Their Aunt Sally was a bit crazy but they loved her nonetheless.

"Anyway, I need to put this one down for a nap" Tegan spoke as she took Rose from her buggy and took her upstairs.


	41. Epilogue - Part 1

**Ten years later...**

A lot had happened in the last ten years; Peri was now 24 while Leela and Cameron were 38 and 39 respectively.

Peri was still in a relationship with Tom; the relationship went through its rough stages but no matter what life threw at the young pair they stayed together through it all and now they were happily engaged and in the mist of planning their wedding.

Tom was now 24 and his birthday was tomorrow; he was going to celebrate it with both his and his fiancée family.

The Lomax/Campbell's moved away from the village about 3 years ago and now lived in a big eight bedroom house where they lived with Ste, Tegan, Rose, Peri and the newest addition to their family; the newest addition was Beth Campbell who was now seven years old.

Leela had fallen pregnant with her second child in 2017 and had given birth to a beautiful tiny baby girl only eight months later; despite Beth being one month premature she was as fit and healthy as any newborn and she reminded Leela so much of Peri at that age, but this time she would get to keep Beth as her own and bring her up with the man she loved.

About a year before the arrival of Beth Leela and Cameron had gotten married; finally becoming Mr and Mrs Campbell, also Peri had officially got her name changed from Lomax to Campbell so now they where 'the Campbell family' and they were finally all happy together.

Despite the big age gap between Peri and Beth Peri loved her sister very much and often took her to school, she often played with her and took her to the park, she helped her with her homework; she just loved Beth so much, if anything happened to her Peri would be distraught.

Rose was now eleven years old and her and her cousin Beth where like best friends, they did everything together; if Leela asked Beth if she wanted to go to the park or something it would always be 'can Rose come too?'; Rose and Beth where practically inseparable and sometimes it drove their Mums insane; the fact that Rose was four years old than Beth didn't make any difference to them.

They lived about 30 minutes from Hollyoaks Village now and they only lived a few doors down from Cameron's Brother and his wife; Cameron's Brother 'Lockie' had came to the village around the time Leela was pregnant with Beth and although Cameron was mad at him for not being in contact for so many years and not coming to the wedding he forgave him because after all he was his brother and life was too short for all that hate.

* * *

**This is the end, but I have split it into two so you will see the 'family' as they are now including little Beth :)**


	42. Epilogue - Part 2

"Mum" came a whiny voice as both Leela and Tegan sat in the lounge taking.

Leela sighed and turned around to face her

seven-year old daughter "What is it Beth?"

"I'm bored" Beth said, throwing herself on the couch between her Mum and Aunt.

"Well you should have gone to school" Leela said as she went back to speaking with her sister; Beth had been doing her best to wind her Mum up all week and it was starting to work.

"But I was poorly" Beth whinged as she slouched between the two grown-ups.

"And you made a miraculous recovery did you?" Leela questioned as she put her head to her temple, rubbing it; she wasn't in the mood for this right now.

"Yes" Beth said as she sat up straight and looked at her Mum "So take me to the park" she said "Please Mum, I don't want to be bored"

"You should have gone to school then" Leela said "Now, I'm trying to talk to Aunty Tegan"

"Fine" Beth huffed as she stood up and stomped off upstairs.

"She's got such an attitude, are you sure that's healthy?" Tegan asked "Rose was never like that at her age"

"I don't know Teegs, but I really can't be dealing with it today" Leela said.

"When does Cameron get back?" Tegan asked her sister.

"Tonight, which can't come fast enough, I've missed him so much" Leela sighed "So has Beth"

"I'm sure he's missed you too, but he had to go away for the family, it was good money to just turn it down" Tegan said.

"I know, but a week is too long, especially with Beth, she's been a nightmare these past few days" Leela complained.

"Maybe she just misses Cameron" Tegan offered.

"Yeah" Leela breathed.

"So, how are plans for the wedding going?" Tegan asked.

"Good, Peri asked Beth to be flower girl and Rose and Leah are her bridesmaids" Leela said.

"I know, Rose is so excited" Tegan said.

Leela and Tegan sat talking about the wedding as well as others things before suddenly Beth reappeared again.

"I'm hungry" she said "Can I have some sweets?"

"No" Leela said causing Beth to pout "I'll make you a sandwich, but no sweets, you had a load yesterday plus Dad will be home tonight, I'm sure he has brought you loads"

"Yay" Beth screeched loudly "I can't wait to see Daddy, I've missed him so much"

"Me too baby" Leela whispered before going to get up but Tegan stopped her "I'll make her a sandwich, you stay there"

"Thanks"

...

Later that day Peri and Tom were at the house as they often stayed there together as they were saving up for their own place.

"Hey Mum" Peri said from the kitchen where she was with Tom.

"Oh hey Pez, you okay?" Leela asked as she walked downstairs.

"Yeah, you?"

"You know..." Leela trailed off as Peri smiled sympathetically at her.

"Well I don't know but I can imagine" she said to her Mum who gave her a small smile.

"So where's Beth?" Peri questioned, looking for her little sister.

"She's in her room, we can't go in, she's making a surprise for Cam" Leela said.

"Aww, she's really missed him hasn't she" Peri said.

"Yeah, we all have, I can't wait for him to be back, maybe he'll put Beth in a better mood"

"What's she done now?" Peri asked her Mum.

"She wouldn't go to school, said she was poorly but by about half 11 she made a full recovery"

"You should have called me, I would have watched her, we were only with Darren and Nancy visiting Oscar" Peri said.

"I know, but it's fine" Leela said.

"Mum, it's not fine, you are over 7 months pregnant and you are way too stressed, let me help" Peri told her Mum firmly.

"The only thing I need is Cameron to be home" Leela began to cry suddenly as she wiped her eyes "Damn hormones"

"Hey, it's fine" Peri said.

"So, how are you Tom?" Leela questioned looked towards Tom.

"Good thanks" he said just as Beth came running into the kitchen.

"PERI" she shouted excitedly "Look at the card I made for Dad"

"He'll love it" Peri told her, looking at the beautifully decorated card that was neatly coloured in.

Opening the card Peri read what was inside and smiled to herself; Beth's reading and spelling was a bit behind for her age and the school had offered her extra support for that. Peri read the inside to herself:

**To Dad**

**Misd u lots and lots**

**Luv fromm Beth, Mumy and Bummp**

**XXX**

"That's great Beth, he's going to love it" Peri smiled.

"Hi Tom" Beth yelled as she ran off causing him, Leela and Peri to chuckle to themselves.

"Me and Tom and going to go to our room" Peri said and she and Tom started walking out of the kitchen "If you need anything just shout"

"Okay" Leela said as she watched her daughter and fiancée go.

...

It was five o'clock and Beth was upstairs watching a DVD, Tegan had taken Rose to swimming lessons, Ste was away and Peri and Tom had gone out leaving Leela sat on the couch alone watching some rubbish on television; Cameron wasn't due back at least for enough few hours yet.

But as the door to the house came open Leela looked around and there stood Cameron as he dropped his bags on the floor.

"Hey babe" he said with a smirk as he kicked the door shut and walked over to his wife.

"I've missed you" Leela sighed as she fell into his open embrace.

"Missed you more" he replied, kissing the top of her head.

"DADDY DADDY DADDY" came a loud voice followed but footsteps on the stairs "DADDY" Beth shouted as she ran over to him "You're back" Cameron opened his arms for his little girl and she ran into them.

"I missed you so much Daddy" she said "Mummy's been grumpy" she scrunched her face up.

"I told you to be nice to Mummy didn't I?" Cameron asked, picking his daughter up and holding her close "Why did I tell you to be nice to Mummy?"

"Because she's pregnant and I don't want to hurt Mummy or baby's feelings" Beth said drastically.

"That's right, it's your little brother in their" Cameron said, pointing to Leela's tummy before placing Beth back on the ground.

"I'm going to be the best big sister ever" Beth announced proudly.

"I'm sure you are" Cameron said, ruffling her hair up before kissing her cheek.

"I love you Daddy" Beth said with a smile.

"I love you too princess" Cameron said.

"I love you too Mummy and Bump" Beth lightly touched her Mummy's tummy.

"I love you too and so does baby" Leela smiled at her daughter "How about you go upstairs and finish watching your DVD?

"Okay" Beth said before running off, she pausing at the bottom of the stairs and turned to her parents "Bye Daddy" she said before running off.

Cameron laughed at his daughters actions before pulling Leela into a passionate kiss.

**The End.**


End file.
